A REAL DINOSAUR. A SUSPICIOUSLY FAMILIAR PERSONALITY.

MAIASAURA.

Brought enough for everyone.

You have snacks, a charger, and a backup plan for someone else's backup plan. Your love language is anticipating a problem before it becomes a group activity.

SupportiveThoughtfulCommunity-minded

SIGNATURE MOVEPacking an extra one, just in case.

SPECIMEN 12 / LATE CRETACEOUS

MAIASAURA PEEBLESORUM · HERBIVORE

Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Meet the actual dinosaur

THE ACTUAL SCIENCE STARTS HERE

Meet the real Maiasaura.

The jokes are ours.
The animal was very real.

WHEN: About 77–75 million years ago
ON THE MENU: Herbivore
LENGTH: About 9 m
BODY MASS: About 3–4 tonnes

Egg Mountain

Nesting sites in Montana helped transform scientific understanding of dinosaur reproduction.

A duck-billed dinosaur

Maiasaura belonged to the hadrosaur family and used extensive tooth batteries to process plants.

Young in the nest

Nests containing young at different stages helped inspire the interpretation that adults cared for offspring.

Nesting together

Repeated nests in the same areas support colonial nesting behavior.

A growth record

Large fossil samples and bone microstructure allow unusually detailed studies of growth and mortality.

A modest crest

Unlike the hollow, elaborate crest of Parasaurolophus, Maiasaura had a small solid crest near the eyes.

A little room for discovery.

The precise extent of parental feeding and how long young remained dependent are harder to establish than the nesting evidence itself.

Read more: Maiasaura on Wikipedia · Research and references. Facts are summarized in our own words. Size and date ranges are approximate; estimates vary by specimen and study. Gallery images may include other species within the genus.

FROM THE FOSSIL RECORD & THE DRAWING BOARD

A closer look.

Fossils, museum displays, and published reconstructions. Artwork shows an interpretation; it is not a photograph of a living dinosaur.

Maiasaura BWNobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Maiasaura Nest Model.001 - Natural History Museum of LondonFernando Losada Rodríguez · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Maiasaura peeblesorum cast - University of California Museum of Paleontology - Berkeley, CA - DSC04688Daderot · CC0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Maiasaura skeletonMeridas (Vladimír Socha) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Is this your prehistoric alter ego?

Eight questions and an optional face scan will settle this. Very unofficially.

Find my dinosaur