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Hadrosaurus Research Paper

Decent Essays

SES 4U1

Research Essay #2

The Evolutionary History of the Hadrosaurus

Olivia Bellingham

November 18, 2014

In the past, millions of species were eradicated off the face of the Earth from various reasons including natural disasters, the inability to adapt to the environment, and even food scarcity. This essay will cover the origin, diversification, adaptive characteristics of duck-billed dinosaurs more commonly known as hadrosaurids which have been extinct from Earth millions of years ago. Hadrosaurs were one of the many dinosaur groups whose bones were left to study and learn about the past. These creatures were also mainly studied for their tough skin as a “hadrosaur versus another dinosaur, you’re 31 times more likely to preserve skin.” …show more content…

The actual evolutionary origin of the hadrosaurs first began in the late cretaceous period roughly 70 million years ago. These dinosaurs “were members of the Ornithopoda, and close relatives and possible descendants of iguanodontid dinosaurs.” (Carroll, R.L. 1988). They lived in a variety of different environments which led to theories of why hadrosaurs had a crest shaped head piece. Some of these theories included the headgear being used as a snorkel, reservoir for warming air to breathe, and even farfetched theories such as fire breathing. These theories would only be possible through finding evidence of hadrosaurs, such as studying their remains. Luckily, hadrosaurs have a “large number in fossil records for many areas that they often appear in 75% of the dinosaur biomass in a region” as the population of them was also large. Most came and were found in Asia, Europe, and North America and began to be preserved during the cretaceous …show more content…

However, the truth can be uncovered using the keys of the past by analyzing what remains of the hadrosaurids. Fossil records were a key part in figuring out the basic anatomy of the dinosaurs. Scientists take what they find and use their theories to further give insight on how they might have lived, behaved, and eventually died out. It is important to learn about how creatures have evolved and adapted so we can use it to further the development of human understanding on the past. This may be our key to giving ourselves an edge to the future by learning about the

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