Corythosaurus main content.

Corythosaurus

Part of Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs.

A fossil skeleton of a Corythosaurus shown mounted against a white wall. It has a round helmet-like skull. Several digits are missing from its front limbs and are represented by painted restorations on the wall.

Corythosaurus is a member of the group of duck-billed dinosaurs called hadrosaurs, which walked and ran on their two hind legs. The species’ strange skull is capped by a crescent-shaped helmet that contains extended tubes, which formed elaborate nasal passages.

Collected in 1912 in Alberta, Canada, this Corythosaurus is among the finest dinosaur specimens ever found. The preservation of fossilized skin impressions and a meshwork of calcified tendons that stiffened the tall vertebrae make it a rare find.