Art #6: Five Hadrosaurids

"Five Hadrosaurids"
Coloured pencil illustration, July 2008
Adapted from Luis Rey's illustrations in Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages

Top left: Parasaurolophus walkeri Parks, 1922
Hadrosauridae; Ornithopoda; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
From Late Cretaceous North America
With colour scheme inspired by the Hoopoe (Upupa epops)

Bottom left: Corythosaurus casuarius Brown, 1914
Hadrosauridae; Ornithopoda; Ornithischia; Sauropsida;
ChordataFrom Late Cretaceous North America
With colour scheme inspired by the Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)

Top centre: Lambeosaurus lambei Parks, 1923
Hadrosauridae; Ornithopoda; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
From Late Cretaceous North America
With colour scheme inspired by the Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata)

Bottom centre: Olorotitan arharensis Godefroit et al., 2003
Hadrosauridae; Ornithopoda; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
From Late Cretaceous Russia
With colour scheme inspired by the Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)

Right: Saurolophus osborni Brown, 1912
Hadrosauridae; Ornithopoda; Ornithischia; Sauropsida; Chordata
From Late Cretaceous Mongolia & North America
With colour scheme inspired by the Secretary Bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)

Hadrosaurids are the "duck-billed" dinosaurs, a specialised group of ornithopods (see Art #4) from the very end of the dinosaurs' reign in the Late Cretaceous (up to 65 million years ago). There are two subfamilies: Hadrosaurinae, containing such beasts as Edmontosaurus and Saurolophus; and Lambeosaurinae with the crested hadrosaurids such as most of those depicted above. The wonderful diversity of crests may have been used for producing resonating sounds, and were likely to have had warning colorations.

I have added a twist to the coloration; using colours of extant birds which bear some similarity to the dinosaurs. The likeness is uncanny in the Corythosaurus casuarius and the cassowary; note that the species name of the dinosaur is the same as that of the bird. The eye spot on the Olorotitan is nothing to do with the roseate spoonbill, but I felt it needed some more colour than brown on the crest!