Species Profile: Edmontosaurus

Edmontosaurus annectens is one of the most common dinosaurs found in the Hell Creek formation. This is one of the best studied dinosaurs in the world and, unlike many other species, we have a much better understanding of what this dinosaur looked like in life thanks to thousands of bones, complete skeletons and "Mummies" revealing surprising anatomical features such as fossilized skin. 

In recent years, Edmontosaurus fossils also revealed that these animals had unique "hooved" forelimbs. This was indicated in an incredible fossil found by the North Dakota Geological Survey, a specimen now affectionately known as "The Mitten". Edmontosaurus, like all hadrosaurs, processed their food with a multitude of tightly packed teeth in a configuration called a "dental battery". This allowed Edmontosaurus to chew its food unlike most other dinosaurian herbivores that swallowed their food in chunks.