Hadrosaurus foulkii
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Hadrosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 79.5 Ma |
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| Displayed casts of the 35 known bones at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ornithopoda |
| Family: | †Hadrosauridae |
| Genus: |
†Hadrosaurus Leidy, 1858 |
| Species: | †H. foulkii |
| Binomial name | |
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Hadrosaurus foulkii Leidy, 1858 |
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| Synonyms | |
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†Hadrosaurus cavatus Cope, 1871 |
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†Hadrosaurus cavatus Cope, 1871
†Ornithotarsus immanis Cope, 1869
Hadrosaurus (/ˌhædrəˈsɔːrəs/; from Greek ἁδρός, hadros, meaning "bulky" or "large", and σαῦρος, sauros, meaning "lizard") is a validgenus of hadrosaurid dinosaur. The only known skeleton was discovered in 1858, representing the first dinosaur species known from more than isolated teeth to be identified in North America. In 1868, it became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton. Hadrosaurus foulkii is the only species in this genus and has been the official state dinosaur of New Jersey, United States since 1991.
H. foulkii is known from a single specimen consisting of much of the skeleton and parts of the skull. The specimen was collected from the Woodbury Formation in New Jersey, USA. Using radio-isotope dating of bivalve shells from the same formation, the sedimentary rocks where the Hadrosaurus fossil was found were formed at some time between 80.5 and 78.5 million years ago.
In 1838, John Estaugh Hopkins was digging in a marl pit (on a small tributary of the Cooper River in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and part of the Campanian-age Woodbury Formation) when he uncovered large bones, putting them on display at his home, also in Haddonfield. In 1858, these bones sparked the interest of a visitor, William Parker Foulke. The skeleton was dug out from the marl pit in 1858 by Foulke. The excavation site, known as the Hadrosaurus foulkii Leidy site, is now a National Historic Landmark. Foulke contacted paleontologist Joseph Leidy, and together they recovered an almost complete set of limbs, along with a pelvis, several part of the feet, 28 vertebrae (including 18 from the tail), eight teeth and two small parts of the jaw. Foulke and Leidy studied the fossils together, and in 1858, Leidy formally described and named Hadrosaurus foulkii in honor of his collaborator.
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