**Amurosaurus: A Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period**
Amurosaurus is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 70 to 66 million years ago. This dinosaur was found in eastern Asia, specifically near the Amur River, which borders Russia and China.
**Discovery and Naming**
Amurosaurus was first described by Russian paleontologists Yuri Bolotsky and Sergei Kurzanov in 1991. The name “Amurosaurus” means “Amur lizard.” The dinosaur species is named **A. riabinini** to honor Anatoly Riabinin, a paleontologist who helped find dinosaur fossils in the Amur region in the early 1900s.
All known fossils of Amurosaurus were found at a single site in Blagoveschensk, Russia. This site is part of the Udurchukan Formation, which dates back about 68 million years. Most of the fossils belong to young Amurosaurus dinosaurs, with a few bones from other types of dinosaurs as well.
**Physical Characteristics**
Amurosaurus was quite large, with estimates suggesting it could grow to about 6 to 8 meters long. It possibly weighed around 3,000 kilograms. This dinosaur is known for its unique skull features and the shape of its lower arm bone (ulna). While we don’t have evidence of the crest on its head, scientists believe it likely had one because of how its skull bones are shaped.
**Fossil Findings and Health**
The original fossil, called the holotype, consists of parts of the upper and lower jaw. Other bones from different individuals have also been found, making Amurosaurus one of the best-known dinosaurs from Russia.
Interestingly, a fossil of Amurosaurus showed a bone that was healing, suggesting that the dinosaur had an injury before it died. This injury might have caused it to walk differently.
**Scientific Classification**
Amurosaurus belongs to a group of dinosaurs known as **hadrosaurs**, specifically in the subfamily **Lambeosaurinae**. The Lambeosaurinae are famous for their distinctive head crests, though we don’t yet have information about what Amurosaurus’s crest looked like.
In recent studies, researchers found that Amurosaurus is closely related to other dinosaurs like Lambeosaurus. This connection helps scientists understand the relationships between different dinosaur species.
**Conclusion**
Amurosaurus is a fascinating dinosaur that gives us insights into the diverse world of dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous period. Its discovery in Russia has helped paleontologists learn more about the dinosaurs that lived in Asia and their characteristics.