Charonosaurus jiayinensis is a huge, late surviving lambeosaurine hadrosaur from what is now China, near the Amur River. It is represented in Prehistoric Kingdom as an alternate genus to Parasaurolophus.
In-Game[]
Description[]
Charonosaurus is distinguished from Parasaurolophus by its distinct tall crest and striking colouration. Male Charonosaurus gain a bright pink and blue colour and bright beige/yellow face. Their bodies are a strong navy blue/dark grey, with females being entirely that colour.
Management[]
To be announced
In-Game Trivia[]
Nigel Marven
Despite being named after the ferryman of the Underworld from Greek Mythology, Charonosaurus is not known for delivering souls to the afterlife.
Nigel Marven
I've seen the look in the eyes of a “hangry” Charonosaurus before, and it's almost like they're contemplating a new career path. No, sir, you aren't taking me across the River Styx today. Go and eat your ferns!
Paleontology[]
Charonosaurus was found in the Yuliangze Formation in north eastern China. It lived at the very end of the Cretaceous, when many species of lambeosaurine dinosaurs had disappeared from the fossil record. It is believed to be similar to Parasaurolophus and a few paleontologists consider it a species of Parasaurolophus rather than its own genus. Some analyses recover it as closer to the Mexican hadrosaur genus Tlatolophus, which is known for a much different crest shape.
Charonosaurus was named in 2000 by Pascal Godefroit, Shuqin Zan and Liyong Jin from bonebeds representing a wide range of individuals. The group possibly represents a herd that suffered some sort of mass mortality event. Its name means "Charon's Lizard" in reference to Charon, the boatman who transported the souls of the dead in the Ancient Greek underworld. Its possible that this name is a reference to the mass death event which preserved this hadrosaur.
Paleoecology[]
As a hadrosaur, Charonosaurus likely lived lives similar to its relatives. As large herbivores their presence likely shaped their ecosystems greatly due to their highly efficient plant processing capabilities. It would have also likely have partitioned somewhat with other herbivores in the Yuliangze Formation, which included a number of other hadrosaurids such as Saurolophus. Indeterminate remains from tyrannosaurids, troodontids and ornithomimids have also been reported from its habitat, hinting at a diverse ecology that has yet to be fully understood.
It is also one of the latest known lambeosaurine hadrosaurs, and likely would have been extant to witness the K-PG extinction. It currently seems that lambeosaurs may have declined or were extirpated in North America towards the end of the Cretaceous, though it is possible that this is an artifact of the incompleteness of the fossil record. If lambeosaurines truly did become rarer in North America but continued thriving in Asia at the end of the Cretaceous, there must have been some unique ecological factor that allowed for their continued survival on the other side of the Pacific.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Charonosaurus used to have a crest identical to Parasaurolophus walkeri in Prehistoric Kingdom, however it now has a more unique crest resembling a blend of the crests of Parasaurolophus and Tlatophus as of Update 14
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