“The Helmeted Hadrosaur of the Dinosaur Park”
Binomial Corythosaurus casuarius · koh-RITH-oh-SORE-us
Late Cretaceous - 77-75 Ma
IllustrationCorythosaurus fossil records in Fossil Atlas are mapped as selected modern discovery locations, with 11 source-backed records currently shown. Western Canada and northern interior North America, especially Dinosaur Park Formation records. Key mapped formations in the current dataset include Judith River Fm, Judith River Formation, Two Medicine Fm. These pins are fossil record locations, not a complete ancient habitat map.
Corythosaurus was a crested hadrosaur from Late Cretaceous western Canada. Its selected records support the Dinosaur Park Formation cluster and help Fossil Atlas present herbivore diversity beyond horned dinosaurs.
Drawn true to scale on a metre ruler.
Length
measured9 m · 30 ft
Largest known specimens
Height
measured3.6 m (12 ft)
Body mass
estimate3,500 kg · 7,700 lb
Typical adult
Top speed
estimate40 km/h · 25 mph
Modelled, debated
Corythosaurus was a large crested hadrosaur from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. Its crest formed a rounded, helmet-like plate above the skull, distinct from the tubular crest of Parasaurolophus. Like other crested hadrosaurs, it probably used the hollow internal passages for producing sound and for visual species recognition. Several well-preserved specimens include skin impressions.
The crest
A rounded, semicircular crest sitting above and slightly to one side of the skull, containing hollow passages connected to the nasal cavity. Smaller in some individuals, likely juveniles or one sex.
Skin
Some Corythosaurus specimens preserve skin impressions with a pebbly texture, providing rare detail about soft tissue appearance in hadrosaurs.
Feeding
Dense dental batteries for grinding plant material, a toothless beak for cropping. The same basic system as Parasaurolophus and Edmontosaurus.
Locomotion
Both bipedal and quadrupedal depending on activity. Quadrupedal walking was probably the default, with bipedal movement when threatened or running.
Position of this animal’s known range across 252 million years of the Mesozoic and beyond.
77-75 million years ago
Corythosaurus had a helmet-like crest that gives it one of the clearest silhouettes among hadrosaurs.
Its Dinosaur Park records pair well with Centrosaurus and Gorgosaurus pages.
Fossil Atlas uses Corythosaurus to make the Collection 02 Canadian cluster more balanced.
Barnum Brown collected the first Corythosaurus specimens from the Red Deer River area of Alberta in 1911 and named the genus the same year. Several of Brown's specimens were lost when the ship carrying them to England was sunk by a German submarine during the First World War. Replacement material was later collected and the genus is now well represented in museum collections. The wartime loss made the early collection history of Corythosaurus unusual even by the standards of early twentieth-century palaeontology.
Animals known from the same deposits and time as Corythosaurus.
Other members of Hadrosauridae.
Parasaurolophus
A close relative with a very different, tubular crest shape, from the same formation.
Edmontosaurus
A crest-less hadrosaur from slightly later deposits in the same region.
Lambeosaurus
A forward-crested hadrosaur from the Dinosaur Park Formation, sharing the same ecosystem.
Pins show selected fossil records for Corythosaurus; use them as modern discovery evidence, not a complete range map. Modern fossil discovery map: pins show where selected fossil and specimen records were found today, not ancient Earth positions. What does this mean?
Specimen evidence
These are sourced specimen assets, separate from reconstruction artwork. Only media with clear open or reusable rights is displayed by default.
USNM PAL 358580_1
Michael Brett-Surman
USNM PAL 358584_1
Michael Brett-Surman
USNM PAL 358588_3
Michael Brett-Surman
Corythosaurus is represented here by selected fossil records from western canada and northern interior north america, especially dinosaur park formation records. Fossil Atlas maps those records as modern discovery locations.
No. The map shows modern fossil discovery locations from selected records. Ancient habitat and paleogeographic reconstructions are separate questions.
The current Fossil Atlas records include Judith River Fm. Formation coverage depends on the selected dataset and may not be complete.
Yes. Use the expedition card generator to turn the Corythosaurus map and specimen profile into a shareable card.
Selected fossil records from PBDB and museum biodiversity aggregators. This is not a complete fossil count by country; source labels and confidence notes help distinguish canonical paleobiology records from specimen-media records.
Reconstruction images are labeled illustrations and do not represent fossil evidence. Size, speed, and bite-force figures are typical published estimates and remain subject to revision as new specimens are described.
Maps use curated PBDB, museum, and specimen-source records with visible caveats.
Pins show where fossils were found or reported today, not exact ancient habitat positions.
Artwork is labeled separately from specimen photos, maps, and source records.
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