'''''Edmontosaurus''''' je rod dinosaura sa pačjim kljunom koji nisu imali krijestu na glavi. Fosili ove životinje pronađeni su u kamenju na zapadu [[Sjeverna Amerika|Sjeverne Amerike]] iz perioda između 73 i 65,5 milijuna godina prije nove ere. Bio je jedan od zadnjih dinosaura i živio je uz ''[[Triceratops]]a'' i ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]a'' kratko prije izumiranja dinosaura prije oko 65 milijuna godina.
''Edmontosaurus'' je bio jedan od najvećih hadrosaurida, dužine do 13 m i težine do 4 metričkih tona. Poznat nam je iz nekoliko dobro očuvanih primjeraka u koje spadaju ne samo kosti, već i u nekim slučajevima i otisci kože i moguće sadržine iznutrica. Svrstava se one hadrosauride koji nisu imali šuplju krijestu i bio je srodan rodu ''[[Anatotitan]]'', a možda je i sinoniman njemu.
''Edmontosaurus'' ima dugu i zamršenu taksonomsku povijest koja dotira do kasnog 19. stoljeća. Razne vrste klasificirane sa rodovima ''[[Claosaurus]]'', ''[[Thespesius]]'', ''[[Trachodon]]'' i poznatim ali sada nekorištenim rodom '''''Anatosaurus''''', sada se smatraju kao pripadnici roda ''Edmontosaurus''. Prvi fosili svrstani u ''Edmontosaurus'' otkriveni su na jugu [[Alberta|Alberte]], [[Kanada]], u prijašnjoj donjoj formaciji Edmonton. Tipičnu vrstu, ''E. regalis'', nazvao je [[Lawrence Lambe]] [[1917.]] godine, iako je nekoliko vrsta koje se sada svrstavaju u ovaj rod bile imenovane već i ranije. Najpoznatija od njih je ''E. annectens'', koju je prvi imenovao [[Othniel Charles Marsh]] [[1892.]] godine kao ''[[Claosaurus]] annectens'' i koja je dugo bila poznata kao ''Anatosaurus annectens''. Treća manja vrsta, ''E. saskatchewanensis'', također je poznata. Naziv ''Edmontosaurus'' znači "gušter iz Edmontona"; rod je imenovan po formaciji Edmonton, koja se sada zove formacija Horseshoe Canyon.
''Edmontosaurus'' je bio vrlo rasprostranjen na zapadu Sjeverne Amerike. Rasprostranjenost njegovih fosila pokazuje da je nastanjivao obalne ravnice. Bio je biljožder koji se mogao kretati i na dvije i na četiri noge. Budući da su fosili pronađeni u većim grupama, smatra se da je ''Edmontosaurus'' živio u grupama i da se možda također selio. Mnogobrojnost fosila je omogućila znanstvenicima da detaljno istraže njegovu paleobiologiju, uključujući i njegov mozak, kako se možda hranio i njegove ozljede i [[patologija|bolesti]].
== Opis ==
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurus scale.png|thumb|Usporedba veličina vrsta ''Edmontosaurus regalis'' i ''E. annectens'' sa čovjekom.]]
''Edmontosaurus'' je detaljno opisan iz nekoliko primjeraka.<ref name=LML20>{{cite book|last=Lambe |first=Lawrence M. |authorlink=Lawrence Lambe |year=1920 |title=The hadrosaur ''Edmontosaurus'' from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta |publisher=Department of Mines, Geological Survey of Canada |series=Memoir |volume=120 |pages=1–79|isbn=0-659-96553-4}}</ref><ref name=CWG24>{{cite book|last=Gilmore |first=Charles W. |authorlink=Charles W. Gilmore |year=1924 |title=A new species of hadrosaurian dinosaur from the Edmonton Formation (Cretaceous) of Alberta |publisher=Department of Mines, Geological Survey of Canada |series=Bulletin |volume=38 |pages=13–26}}</ref><ref name=CMS26>{{cite book|last=Sternberg |first=Charles M. |authorlink=Charles Mortram Sternberg |year=1926 |title=A new species of ''Thespesius'' from the Lance Formation of Saskatchewan |publisher=Department of Mines, Geological Survey of Canada |series=Bulletin |volume=44 |pages=77–84}}</ref><ref name=LW42a>{{cite book |last=Lull |first=Richard Swann |authorlink=Richard Swann Lull |coauthors= and Wright, Nelda E. |title=Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America |year=1942 |publisher=Geological Society of America |series=Geological Society of America Special Paper '''40''' |pages=50–93 }}</ref> Kao i ostali hadrosauridi, bio je glomazna životinja sa dugim repom ravnim sa strane i glavu sa proširenim kljunom kao u patke. Lubanja nije imala ni šuplju ni čvrstu krijestu, za razliku od drugih hadrosaurida. Prednje noge nisu bile tako teške građe kao i zadnje, ali bile su dovoljno duge da bi se koristile tokom stajanja ili kretanja. ''Edmontosaurus'' je spadao u najveće hadrosauride: ovisno o vrsti, potpuno odrasla jedinka mogla je biti duga do 9 m, a neki veći primjerci dostizali su 12 m<ref name=DFG97>{{cite book|chapter=Edmontosaurus |last=Glut |first=Donald F. |authorlink=Donald F. Glut |title=Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia |year=1997 |publisher=McFarland & Co |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |pages=389–396 |isbn=0-89950-917-7 }}</ref> do 13 m dužine.<ref name=DL90>{{cite book |last=Lambert |first=David |coauthors=and the Diagram Group |title=The Dinosaur Data Book |year=1990 |publisher=Avon Books |location=New York |isbn=0-380-75896-3 |page=60}}</ref> Njegova težina bila je oko 4 MT.<ref name=HWF04>{{cite book |last=Horner |first=John R. |authorlink=Jack Horner (paleontologist) |coauthors=Weishampel, David B.; and Forster, Catherine A |editor=Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.)|title=The Dinosauria |edition=2nd |year= 2004|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=438–463 |chapter=Hadrosauridae }}</ref> Trenutno je ''E. regalis'' najveća vrsta, iako bi njezin status mogao izazvati hadrosaurid ''[[Anatotitan|Anatotitan copei]]''; Jack Horner i kolege su 2004. pretpostaviil da su ove dvije vrste sinonimi.<ref name=HWF04/> (što drugi autori još uvijek trebaju testirati). Tipični primjerak vrste ''E. regalis'', NMC 2288, se procjenjuje na 9 do 12 m dužine.<ref name=LW42b>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. p. 225.</ref> ''E. annectens'' je bio malo kraći. Dva poznata skeleta, USNM 2414 i YPM 2182, dugi su 8 m i 8,92 m.<ref name=LW42b/><ref name=FAL04>{{cite journal |last=Lucas |first=Frederic A. |year=2004 |title=The dinosaur ''Trachodon annectens'' |journal=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections |volume=45 |pages=317–320}}</ref> Međutim, postoji barem jedna dojava mnogo većeg potencijalnog primjerka, dugog gotovo 12 m.<ref name=WJM70>{{cite journal |last=Morris |first=William J. |year=1970 |title=Hadrosaurian dinosaur bills — morphology and function |journal=Contributions in Science (Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History) |volume=193 |pages=1–14}}</ref> ''E. saskatchewanensis'' je bio i manji, od 7 do 7,3 m dužine.<ref name=LW42c>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 151–164.</ref>
=== Lubanja ===
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurus annectens skull.jpg|thumb|Lubanja vrste ''Edmontosaurus annectens'']]
Lubanja odraslog ''Edmontosaurusa'' bila je duga oko jedan metar; kod vrste ''E. regalis'' bila je duža nego kod ''E. annectens''.<ref name=LW42b/> Lubanja je bila trokutna u profilu,<ref name=LML20/> bez koštane krijeste.<ref name=LW42c/> Gledani odozgo, prednji i zadnji dio lubanje bili su prošireni; sprijeda se formirao "pačji kljun". U kljunu nisu imali zube, a i donja i gornja čeljust bile su proširene keratinskim materijalom.<ref name=HWF04/> Najveća količina ostataka keratinskog gornjeg kljuna poznata je od "mumije" u Muzeju Senckenberg.<ref name=DFG97/> Kod ovog primjerka se očuvani, ne-koštani dio kljuna očuvao barem 8 cm dalje od kosti i bio je usmjeren prema dolje.<ref name=LW42d>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 110–117.</ref> Nosni otvori ''Edmontosaurusa'' bili su izduženi u duboka udubljenja okružena izraženim koštanim obručima iznad, iza i ispod.<ref name=JAH75>{{cite journal |last=Hopson |first=James A. |year=1975 |title=The evolution of cranial display structures in hadrosaurian dinosaurs |journal=Paleobiology |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=21–43 }}</ref> U barem jednom slučaju (primjerak u Senckenbergu), očuvani su i koštani prstenovi u očnim dupljama.<ref name=LW42e>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 128–130.</ref> Još jedna kost koja se rijetko očuva, [[Stremen (uho)|stremen]], također je pronađena kod jednog primjerka ''Edmontosaurusa''.<ref name=HWF04/>
Zubi su bili prisutni samo u glavnoj kosti donje čeljusti i u zadnjoj oblasti gornje čeljusti, kod obraza. Zubi su se neprestalno zamjenjivali novim, kojima je trebalo oko pola godine da se formiraju.<ref name=TC04>{{cite journal|last=Stanton Thomas|first=Kathryn J. |coauthors=and Carlson, Sandra J. |year=2004 |title=Microscale δ<sup>18</sup>O and δ<sup>13</sup>C isotopic analysis of an ontogenetic series of the hadrosaurid dinosaur ''Edmontosaurus'': implications for physiology and ecology |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology |volume=206 |issue=2004 |pages=257–287 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.01.007}}</ref> Rasli su u kolonama, sa najviše šest u svakoj; broj kolona varirao je ovisno o veličini životinje.<ref name=LW42a/> Poznate kolone za neke vrste su: 51 do 53 kolona u gornjoj čeljusti i 48 do 49 u donjoj čeljusti (zubi gornje čeljusti bili su malo uži nego oni donje čeljusti) za ''E. regalis''; 43 kolone u gornjoj i 36 u donjoj čeljusti za ''E. annectens''; i 52 i 44 za ''E. saskatchewanensis''.<ref name=LW42c/>
Broj kralježaka se razlikuje između primjeraka. ''E. regalis'' je imao 13 vratnih kralježaka, 18 leđnih kralježaka, 9 karličnih kralježaka i nepoznat broj repnih kralježaka.<ref name=LW42c/> Primjerak koji se nekada identificirao kao ''Anatosaurus edmontoni'' (a sada ''E. annectens'') je imao još više leđnih kralježaka i 85 repnih kralježaka, sa neobjavljenim procentom restauracije.<ref name=LW42c/> Ostali hadrosauridi imali su samo 50 do 70 repnih kralježaka,<ref name=HWF04/> pa je time broj istih kod spomenutog primjerka vjerojatno veći nego što je zapravo bio. The [[anatomical terms of location|anterior]] back was curved toward the ground, with the neck flexed upward and the rest of the back and tail held horizontally.<ref name=HWF04/> Most of the back and tail were lined by [[ossification|ossified]] [[tendon]]s arranged in a [[latticework]] along the [[spinous process|neural spines]] of the vertebrae. This condition has been described as making the back and at least part of the tail "ramrod" straight.<ref name=JHO64>{{cite journal |doi=10.2475/ajs.262.8.975 |last=Ostrom |first=John H. |year=1964 |authorlink=John Ostrom |title=A reconsideration of the paleoecology of the hadrosaurian dinosaurs |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=262 |pages=975–997}}</ref><ref name=PMG70>{{cite journal |last=Galton |first=Peter M. |authorlink=Peter Galton |year=1970 |title=The posture of hadrosaurian dinosaurs |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=464–473}}</ref> The ossified tendons are interpreted as having strengthened the vertebral column against gravitational stress, incurred through being a large animal with a horizontal vertebral column otherwise supported mostly by the hind legs and hips.<ref name=JHO64/>
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurusskel.jpg|thumb|left|''Edmontosaurus'' u Pirodoslovnom muzeju Univerziteta Oxford]]
The [[scapula|shoulder blades]] were long flat blade-like bones, held roughly parallel to the vertebral column. The [[pelvis|hips]] were composed of three elements each: an elongate [[ilium (bone)|ilium]] above the articulation with the leg, an [[ischium]] below and behind with a long thin rod, and a [[pubis (bone)|pubis]] in front that flared into a plate-like structure. The structure of the hip hindered the animal from standing with its back erect, because in such a position the [[femur|thigh bone]] would have pushed against the joint of the ilium and pubis, instead of pushing only against the solid ilium. Devet spojenih karličnih kralježaka davalo je podršku kukovlju.<ref name=LW42a/>
Prednje noge bile su kraće i lakše građe nego zadnje noge. [[Ramena kost]] je imala veliku deltopektoralnu krijestu za pričvršćivanje mišića, dok su [[lakatna kost]] i [[palčana kost]] bile mršave. Gornji i donji dio ruke bili su slične dužine. Članak je bio jednostavan, sa samo dvije malene kosti. Na svakom prednjem stopalu bila su po četiri prsta, bez palca (prvog prsta). Kažiprst, drugi, treći i četvrti prst bili su otprilike iste dužine i bili su povezani mesnatim tkivom. Iako su drugi i treći prst imali tvorevine slične kopitima, i te kosti nalazile su se u mesu i nisu bile vidljive izvana. Mali prst se odvojio od ostala tri i bio je mnogo kraći. Bedrena kost bila je robusna i prava, sa izraženim The thigh bone was robust and straight, with a prominent [[fourth trochanter|flange]] about halfway down the [[anatomical terms of location|posterior]] side.<ref name=LW42a/> This ridge was for the attachment of powerful muscles attached to the hips and tail that pulled the thighs (and thus the hind legs) backward and helped maintain the use of the tail as a balancing organ.<ref name=LW42e2>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 98–110.</ref> Na svakom zadnjem stopalu bila su tri prsta, bez velikog i malog prsta. Ti prsti su na vrhu imali strukture slične kopitima.<ref name=LW42a/>
=== Koža ===
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurusmummy.jpg|thumb|AMNH 5060: dobro očuvan primjerak vrste ''Edmontosaurus annectens'']]
Pronađeno je više primjeraka ''Edmontosaurusa'' sa očuvanim otiscima kože. Neki od njih su dobili mnogo pažnje poput " mumije Trachodona" u ranom 20. stoljeću<ref name=HFO09>{{cite journal |last=Osborn |first=Henry Fairfield |authorlink=Henry Fairfield Osborn |year=1909 |title=The epidermis of an iguanodont dinosaur |journal=Science |volume=29 |issue=750 |pages=793–795 |doi=10.1126/science.29.750.793 |pmid=17787819}}</ref><ref name=HFO12>{{cite journal |last=Osborn |first=Henry Fairfield |year=1912 |title=Integument of the iguanodont dinosaur ''Trachodon'' |journal=Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=1 |pages=33–54 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/49 |format=pdf (very large; 76,048 kb) |accessdate=2009-03-08}}</ref> i primjerka sa zvanog "[[Dakota (fosil)|Dakota]]",<ref name="ng">{{cite news |title= Mummified Dinosaur Unveiled |url= http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/photogalleries/dinosaur-pictures/index.html |publisher= National Geographic News |date= 2007-12-03 |accessdate= 2007-12-03 }}</ref><ref name="wp">{{cite news |title= Scientists Get Rare Look at Dinosaur Soft Tissue |url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/12/03/ST2007120300591.html |last= Lee |first= Christopher |publisher= Washington Post |date= 2007-12-03 |accessdate= 2007-12-03 }}</ref><ref name=PLMetyal09>{{cite journal |last=Manning |first=Phillip L. |coauthors=Morris, Peter M.; McMahon, Adam; Jones, Emrys; Gize, Andy; Macquaker, Joe H. S.; Wolff, G.; Thompson, Anu; Marshall, Jim; Taylor, Kevin G.; Lyson, Tyler; Gaskell, Simon; Reamtong, Onrapak; Sellers, William I.; van Dongen, Bart E.; Buckley, Mike; and Wogelius, Roy A. |year=2009 |title=Mineralized soft–tissue structure and chemistry in a mummified hadrosaur from the Hell Creek Formation, North Dakota (USA) |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |pmid=19570788 |volume=276 |issue=1672 |pmc=2817188 |pages=3429–3437 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2009.0812}}</ref> a ovaj zadnji imao je i očuvane organske tvari u koži.<ref name=PLMetyal09/> Zahvaljujući ovim pronalascima, poznat je izgled krljušti na većem dijelu tijela ''Edmontosaurusa''.
AMNH 5060, "mumija Trachodona" (tako nazvana zato što izgleda kao da je fosil prirodne mumije), sada se smatra primjerkom ''E. annectens''. Kod njega su pronađeni otisci kože na njušci, većini vrata i tijela i dijelovima udova.<ref name=LW42d/> Rep i jedan dio nogu erodirao je prije nego što je fosil pronađen, pa su ti dijelovi tijela nepoznati za taj primjerak.<ref name=HFO12/> Uz to, neka područja sa otiscima kože, kao što su dijelovi u vezi sa vratom i rukama, slučajno su otklonjeni tijekom pripremanja primjerka.<ref name=HFO09/> Za ovaj primjerak smatra se da se osušio u suhom koritu potoka,<ref name=HFO12/> vjerojatno u ili blizu zavoja u potoku. Okolnosti lokacije i očuvanja tijela pokazuju da je životinja umrla tijekom perioda suše, možda od gladi.<ref name=KC87>{{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Kenneth |authorlink=Kenneth Carpenter |year=1987 |chapter=Paleoecological significance of droughts during the Late Cretaceous of the Western Interior |editors=Currie, Philip J. and Koster, Emlyn H. (editors) |title=Fourth Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems, Drumheller, August 10–14, 1987 |series=Occasional Paper of the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology |volume=3 |publisher=Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology |location=Drumheller, Alberta |pages=42–47 |isbn=0-7732-0047-9}}</ref><ref name=KC07>{{cite journal |last=Carpenter |first=Kenneth |authorlink=Kenneth Carpenter |year=2007 |title=How to make a fossil: part 2 – Dinosaur mummies and other soft tissue |journal=The Journal of Paleontological Sciences |volume=online |url=http://www.aaps-journal.org/pdf/How+to+Mummify+a+Dinosaur.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2009-03-08}}</ref> Osušenu strvinu je na kraju zakopala iznenadna poplava u kojoj je bilo dovoljno sitnih čestica da se tijelo očuva.<ref name=HFO12/>
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurusskin.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Otisci kože abdomena vrste ''Edmontosaurus annectens'']]
Epiderma je bila tanka, a krljušti su bile malene i nisu se preklapale,<ref name=HFO09/> kao i kod guštera ''[[Heloderma suspectum]]''.<ref name=LW42d/> Na većem dijelu tijela postojala su dva tipa krljušti: malene zašiljene ili konveksne tuberkule, 1 do 3 mm u promjeru bez nekog određenog rasporeda; i veće, ravne mnogokutne tuberkule, obično promjera manjeg od 5 mm, ali i to 10 mm na području podlaktice. Ove zadnje su se grupirale u grupe koje je prvi tip krljušti odjeljivao jedne od drugih; na prijelazu između velikih u male krljušti postojao je tranzicijski tip krljušti. Na većem dijelu tijela su veće krljušti bile raspoređene u kružne ili ovalne grupe, a blizu ramena na ruci formirale su pruge gotovo paralelne jedne drugima. Sve u svemu, grupe su bile veće na gornjem dijelu tijela, a manje na donjem. Iznad kukovlja su postojale grupe dužine 50 cm.<ref name=HFO12/>
Jedini otisci kože sa glave dolaze od velikih otvora za nosnice. Umjesto otisaka tuberkula, tu su se nalazili otisci mekog tkiva, sa dubljim dijelom dalje nazad, što su mogle biti nosnice.<ref name=LW42d/> Vrat i leđa imali su mekan greben ili nabor po sredini, sa redom ovalnih grupa tuberkula iznad šiljastih nastavaka kralježaka. Točna visina grebena kod primjerka AMNH 5060 nije poznata, a ni mjesto njegove gornje granice, budući da je nedostajao gornji dio. Greben je bio visok barem 8 cm i bio je naboran kako bi omogućio pokretanje. Osborn je pretpostavio da je bio dovoljno visok za još jedan red grupa krljušti.<ref name=HFO12/>
Na prednjim udovima su se nalazili najveći tuberkuli, raspoređeni u velike grupe koje su pokrivale veći dio udova. Ruke su bile pokrivene malenim tuberkulima u strukturi od mekog tkiva koja je okruživala tri centralna prsta; čak ni vrhovi nisu bili vidljivi. Osborn je smatrao da je to bila prilagodba plivanju.<ref name=HFO12/> [[Robert T. Bakker]] je kasnije zaključio da je to meko tkivo bilo analogno mekom tkivu na stopalima deve.<ref name=RTB86>{{cite book |last=Bakker |first=Robert T. |authorlink=Robert T. Bakker |year=1986 |title=[[The Dinosaur Heresies: New Theories Unlocking the Mystery of the Dinosaurs and their Extinction]] |chapter= The case of the duckbill's hand |publisher=William Morrow |location=New York |isbn=0-8217-2859-8 |pages=146–159}}</ref> Kao i na podlaktici, i na potkoljenici je bilo velikih tuberkula. Raspored krljušti na ostatku noge je još uvijek nepoznat, ali otisci kože ''[[Lambeosaurus]]a'' pokazuju da su butine bile ispod kože, kao kod današnjih ptica.<ref name=LW42d/>
Rep nije pronađen kod primjerka AMNH 5060, ali ostali primjerci dali su neke detalje o koži na tom dijelu tijela. Otisci kože nepotpunog repa koji pripada ili ''Edmontosaurusu'' ili njegovom bliskom srodniku ''Anatotitanu'', koji su pronađeni u formaciji Hell Creek, pokazuju segmentiran greben iznad kralježaka. Greben je bio visok oko 8 cm, a segmenti su bili dugi 5 cm i visoki 4,5 cm, sa razmakom od 1 cm između sebe, jedan segment po kralješku.<ref name=JRH84>{{cite journal |last=Horner |first=John R. |authorlink=Jack Horner (paleontologist) |title=A "segmented" epidermal frill in a species of hadrosaurian dinosaur |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=270–271}}</ref> Još jedan fosilizirani rep, ovaj put od neodraslog primjerka, imao je fosilizirane otiske uključujući tuberkule i do tada još neviđene teksture na koži. U ove otiske spadaju i eliptične krljušti koje se preklapaju, ižlijebljene krljušti i "trapezoidna struktura 9 cm sa 10 cm nalik na rog".<ref name=TLetal03>{{cite journal |last=Lyson |first=Tyler R. |coauthors=Hanks, H. Douglas; and Tremain, Emily S. |year=2003 |url=http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2003NC/finalprogram/abstract_51215.htm |title=New skin structures from a juvenile ''Edmontosaurus'' from the Late Cretaceous of North Dakota |journal=Abstracts with Programs — Geological Society of America |volume=35 |issue=2 |page=13 |accessdate=2009-03-08}}</ref>
== Klasifikacija ==
{{clade|style=font-size:80%;line-height:100%
|label1= Hadrosaurinae
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Lophorhothon]]''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|label1=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Prosaurolophus]]''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Gryposaurus]]''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1='''''Edmontosaurus'''''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Brachylophosaurus]]''
|2=''[[Maiasaura]]''
}}
}}
}}
}}
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=[[Kritosaurus|"Kritosaurus" ''australis'']]
|2=''[[Naashoibitosaurus]]''
|3=''[[Saurolophus]]''
}}
}}
}}
}}
{{clade| style=font-size:80%;line-height:100%
|label1=Hadrosaurinae
|1={{clade
|1=''[[Lophorhothon]]''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|label1=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|1={{clade
|1='''''Edmontosaurus'''''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Prosaurolophus]]''
|2=''[[Saurolophus]]''
}}
}}
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Naashoibitosaurus]]''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Gryposaurus]]''
|label2=<span style="color:white;">unnamed</span>
|2={{clade
|1=''[[Brachylophosaurus]]''
|2=''[[Maiasaura]]''
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
<center><small>Gornji kladogram prema Horner ''et al.'' (2004.),<ref name=HWF04/> donji kladogram prema Gates & Sampson (2007.).<ref name=GS07/></small></center>
''Edmontosaurus'' je bio hadrosaurid, pripadnik porodice koje je pronađena jedino u stijenama iz kasne krede. Klasificira se u Hadrosaurinae, kladus hadrosaurida koji nisu imali šuplju krijestu na glavi. Ostali pripadnici ove grupe su ''[[Brachylophosaurus]]'', ''[[Gryposaurus]]'', ''[[Lophorhothon]]'', ''[[Maiasaura]]'', ''[[Naashoibitosaurus]]'', ''[[Prosaurolophus]]'' i ''[[Saurolophus]]''.<ref name=HWF04/> Bio je ili u vrlo bliskom srodstvu sa rodom ''[[Anatotitan]]'',<ref name=WH90>{{cite book |last=Weishampel |first=David B. |authorlink=David B. Weishampel |coauthors=and Horner, Jack R. |editor= Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.)|title=The Dinosauria |edition=1st |year=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-06727-4 |pages=534–561 |chapter=Hadrosauridae}}</ref>još jednim velikim hadrosauridom iz raznih kasnokredskih formacija na zapadu SAD-a, ili je bio njegov sinonim.<ref name=HWF04/> Divovski kineski hadrosaurin ''[[Shantungosaurus]]'' je također anatomski sličan ''Edmontosaurusu''; M. K. Brett-Surman je otkrio da se ova dva roda razlikuju samo u detaljima vezanim za veličinu ''Shantungosaurusa'', na osnovu opisa tog roda.<ref name=MKBS89>{{cite book |last=Brett-Surman |first=Michael K. |year=1989 |title=A revision of the Hadrosauridae (Reptilia: Ornithischia) and their evolution during the Campanian and Maastrichtian |series=Ph.D. dissertation |publisher=George Washington University |location=Washington, D.C. }}</ref>
Iako status ''Edmontosaurusa'' kao hadrosaurina nije izazvan, njegovo točno svrstavanje u kladusu nije određeno. U ranim su se filogenijama, kao što je ona u uticajnom monografu [[R. S. Lull]]a i Nelde Wright iz 1942. godine, ''Edmontosaurus'' i razne vrste roda ''Anatosaurus'' (od kojih je većina poslije svrstana u rod ''Edmontosaurus'') kao jednu lozu među više loza hadrosaura "sa ravnim glavama".<ref name=LW42f>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. p. 48.</ref> Jedna od prvih analiza u kojoj su se koristile kladističke metode pokazala je da je u srodstvu sa rodovima ''Anatotitan'' i ''Shantungosaurus'' u neformalnom kladusu "edmontosaura", koji je uparen sa "saurolofima" sa šiljatom krijestom na zadnjem dijelu glave i u daljem srodstvu sa "brahilofosaurima" i "griposaurima".<ref name=WH90/> Istraživanje koje su 2007. godine proveli Terry Gates i Scott Sampson dalo je slične rezultate, da je ''Edmontosaurus'' u bliskom srodstvu sa ''Saurolophusom'' i ''Prosaurolophusom'', a u daljem srodstvu sa ''Gryposaurusom'', ''Brachylophosaurusom'' i rodom ''Maiasaura''.<ref name=GS07>{{cite journal |last=Gates |first=Terry A. |coauthors=Sampson, Scott D. |year=2007 |title=A new species of ''Gryposaurus'' (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the late Campanian Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah, USA |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=151 |issue=2 |pages=351–376 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00349.x }}</ref> Međutim, najnoviji pregled porodice Hadrosauridae, koji su proveli Jack Horner i kolege (2004.), doveo je do upadljivo drugačijih rezultata: ''Edmontosaurus'' je svrstan između roda ''Gryposaurus'' i "brahilofosaura", a u daljem srodstvu sa rodom ''Saurolophus''.<ref name=HWF04/> Nepodudarnosti kompliciraju i relativni nedostatak rada na evolutivnoj srodnosti hadrosaurina.
== Otkriće i povijest ==
=== ''Claosaurus annectens'' i ostala rana otkrića ===
''Edmontosaurus'' je imao dugu i kompliciranu povijest u paleontologiji; proveo je desetljeća sa raznim vrstama klasificiranim u druge rodove. Njegova taksonomska povijest se u mnogim tačkama povijesti isprepliće sa rodovima ''[[Agathaumas]]'', ''Anatosaurus'', ''Anatotitan'', ''[[Claosaurus]]'', ''[[Hadrosaurus]]'', ''[[Thespesius]]'' i ''[[Trachodon]]'',<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=BSC07>{{cite book |last=Creisler |first=Benjamin S. |year=2007 |chapter=Deciphering duckbills: a history in nomenclature |editor=Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.) |title=Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |pages=185–210 |isbn=0-253-34817-X}}</ref> a izvori prije 1980-ih godina obično koriste ''Anatosaurus'', ''Claosaurus'', ''Thespesius'' ili ''Trachodon'' za fosile edmontosaura (osim onih koji spadaju u ''E. regalis''), ovisno o autoru i vremenu objave. Iako je ''Edmontosaurus'' nazvan [[1917.]] godine, njegova najstarija vrsta (''E. annectens'') je nazvana [[1892.]] kao vrsta ''Claosaurusa'', a nepotpuni ostaci koji mu pripadaju opisani su još [[1871.]] godine.<ref name=HWF04/>
Prve opisane ostatke životinje koja je mogla biti ''Edmontosaurus'', [[Edward Drinker Cope]] je [[1871.]] godine nazvao ''Trachodon atavus''.<ref name=EDC71>{{cite journal |last=Cope |first=Edward Drinker |authorlink=Edward Drinker Cope |year=1871 |title=Supplement to the synopsis of the extinct Batrachia and Reptilia of North America |journal=American Philosophical Society, Proceedings |volume=12 |issue=86 |pages=41–52}}</ref> Ova vrsta je u dva pregleda bez komentara procijenjena kao sinonim vrste ''Edmontosaurus regalis'',<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=WH90/> iako je ''atavus'' nazvan nekoliko desetljeća prije ''regalis''. Godine [[1874.]] Cope je nazvao, ali nije opisao vrstu ''Agathaumas milo'', čiji se primjerak sastojao od križničnih kralježaka i dijelova goljenične kosti iz perioda kasne krede (formacija Laramie, [[Colorado]]).<ref name=DFG97/><ref name=EDC74a>{{cite journal |last=Cope |first=Edward Drinker |authorlink=Edward Drinker Cope |year=1874 |title=Report on the stratigraphy and Pliocene vertebrate paleontology of northern Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories Annual Report |volume=1 |pages=9–28}}</ref><ref name=CY02>{{cite journal |last=Carpenter |first=Kenneth |authorlink=Kenneth Carpenter |coauthors=and Young, D. Bruce |year=2002 |title=Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Denver Basin, Colorado |journal=Rocky Mountain Geology |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=237–254 }}</ref> Kasnije te iste godine, opisao je ove kosti pod nazivom ''Hadrosaurus occidentalis''.<ref name=DFG97/><ref name=CY02/><ref name=EDC74b>{{cite journal |last=Cope |first=Edward Drinker |authorlink=Edward Drinker Cope |year=1874 |title=Report on the vertebrate paleontology of Colorado |journal=U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories Annual Report |volume=2 |pages=429–454}}</ref> Te kosti su sada izgubljene.<ref name=CY02/> Kao i sa ''Trachodon atavus'', ''Agathaumas milo'' je u dva pregleda bez komentara svrstan kao ''Edmontosaurus regalis'',<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=WH90/> iako je bio nekoliko desetljeća stariji od ''regalis''. Ni jedna vrsta nije privukla mnogo pažnje; na primjer, ni jedna se ne pojavljuje u monografu Lulla i Wrighta ([[1942.]] godine). Treću nejasnu vrstu, ''Trachodon selwyni'', koju je [[1902.]] godine od donje čeljusti pronađene u formaciji Dinosaur Park (Alberta) opisao [[Lawrence Lambe]],<ref name=LL02>{{cite journal |last=Lambe |first=Lawrence M. |authorlink=Lawrence Lambe |year=1902 |title=On Vertebrata of the mid-Cretaceous of the Northwest Territory. 2. New genera and species from the Belly River Series (mid-Cretaceous). |journal=Contributions to Canadian Paleontology |volume=3 |pages=25–81}}</ref> Glut (1997. godine) je neispravno opisao kao priključenu vrsti ''Edmontosaurus regalis'' od strane Lulla i Wrighta.<ref name=DFG97/> Ona to nije, već je opisana kao "vrlo upitne validnosti".<ref name=LW42g>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 220–221.</ref> Neki noviji pregledi hadrosaurida su se suglasili.<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=WH90/>
[[Datoteka:Large marsh claosaurus.jpg|thumb|Skeletalna restauracija vrste ''Edmontosaurus annectens'' (tada ''Claosaurus'') - [[Othniel Charles Marsh]].]]
[[Datoteka:Mounted Edmontosaurus.jpg|thumb|''Edmontosaurus annectens'' u Muzeju Unierziteta Yale, prvi gotovo potpuni skelet dinosaura postavljen u [[Sjedinjene Američke Države|SAD]]-u.<ref name=FAL04/>]]
Prva dobro podržana vrsta ''Edmontosaurusa'' nazvana je [[1892.]] godine ''Claosaurus annectens'' od strane [[Othniel Charles Marsh|Othniela Charlesa Marsha]]. Ova vrsta se bazira na USNM 2414, lubanji i skeletu, a druga glava i skelet, YPM 2182, je paratip. Oba je [[1891.]] godine skupio [[John Bell Hatcher]] u formaciji Lance iz perioda gornje krede.<ref name=OCM92a>{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=Othniel Charles |authorlink=Othniel Charles Marsh |year=1892 |title=Notice of new reptiles from the Laramie Formation |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=43 |pages=449–453}}</ref> Ova vrsta ima i neke povijesne bilješke: među prvim je dinosaurima koji su dobili skeletnu restauraciju i prvi je hadrosaurid restauriran na taj način;<ref name=BSC07/><ref name=OCM92b>{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=Othniel Charles |authorlink=Othniel Charles Marsh |year=1892 |title=Restorations of ''Claosaurus'' and ''Ceratosaurus'' |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=44 |pages=343–349}}</ref> a YPM 2182 i UNSM 2414 su prvi i drugi vrlo potpuni skeleti postavljeni u SAD-u.<ref name=FAL04/> YPM 2182 je izložen [[1901.]] godine,<ref name=BSC07/> a USNM 2414 [[1904.]] godine.<ref name=FAL04/>
Zbog nepotpunog razumijevanja hadrosaurida u to vrijeme, nakon Marshove smrti 1897. godine, ''Claosaurus annectens'' se svrstavao kao vrsta rodova ''Claosaurus'', ''Thespesius'' ili ''Trachodon''. Mišljenja su se mnogo razlikovala; udžbenici i enciklopedije su povlačili liniju između ''Claosaurus annectens'' sličnog ''[[Iguanodon]]u'' i ''Hadrosaurusa'' sa pačjim kljunom (na osnovu ostataka poslije priključenih vrsti ''Anatotitan copei''), dok je Hatcher eksplicitno identificirao ''C. annectens'' kao sinonim hadrosaurida predstavljenog tim istim lubanjama dinosaura s pačjim kljunom.<ref name=BSC07/> Hatcherova revizija, objavljena 1902. godine, bila je "očistila" situaciju: on je smatrao da su gotovo svi tada poznati rodovi hadrosaurida zapravo sinonimi roda ''Trachodon''. U tu grupu spadaju ''[[Cionodon]]'', ''[[Diclonius]]'', ''Hadrosaurus'', ''[[Hadrosaurus|Ornithotarsus]]'', ''[[Pteropelyx]]'' i ''Thespesius'', kao i ''[[Claorhynchus]]'' i ''[[Polyonax]]'', čiji su primjerci nepotpuni i danas se smatraju ceratopsima.<ref name=JBH02>{{cite journal |last=Hatcher |first=John B. |authorlink=John Bell Hatcher |year=1902 |title=The genus and species of the Trachodontidae (Hadrosauridae, Claosauridae) Marsh |journal=Annals of the Carnegie Museum, part 14 |volume=1 |pages=377–386}}</ref> Hatcherov rad doveo je do kratkog konsenzusa, dok poslije 1910. godine novi materijal iz Kanade i Montane nije pokazao veću raznolikost hadrosaurida nego što se prije slutilo.<ref name=BSC07/> [[Charles W. Gilmore]] je 1915. godine ponovo procijenio hadrosauride i predložio da se ''Thespesius'' ponovo uvede za hadrosauride iz formacije Lance i stijena iz odgovarajućeg perioda, a da se ''Trachodon'', zbog neadekvatnog materijala, ograniči na hadrosaurida iz starije formacije Judith River i njoj ekvivalentnih stijena. Što se tiče vrste ''Claosaurus annectens'', predložio je da se smatra sinonimom ''Thespesius occidentalis''.<ref name=CWG15>{{cite journal |last=Gilmore |first=Charles W. |authorlink=Charles W. Gilmore |year=1915 |title=On the genus ''Trachodon'' |journal=Science |volume=41 |pages=658–660 |doi=10.1126/science.41.1061.658 |pmid=17747979 |issue=1061}}</ref> Njegovo vraćanje roda ''Thespesius'' za hadrosauride iz perioda formacije Lance imat će posljedice u taksonomiji ''Edmontosaurusa'' u sljedećim desetljećima.
Tijekom ovo vremenskog perioda ([[1902.]]–[[1915.]]), pronađena su još dva veoma važna primjerka vrste ''C. annectens''. Prvu, "mumiju Trachodona" (AMNH 5060), otkrili su u formaciji Lance [[1908.]] godine [[Charles Hazelius Sternberg]] i njegovi sinovi. Sternberg je radio za Britanski prirodoslovni muzej, ali Henry Fairfield Osborn iz Američkog prirodoslovnog muzeja kupio je primjerak za 2000 dolara.<ref name=NGD95>{{cite book |last=Norell |first=M. A. |coauthors=Gaffney, E. S.; and Dingus, L. |title=Discovering Dinosaurs in the American Museum of Natural History |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |year=1995 |pages=154–155 |isbn=0-679-43386-4}}</ref> Sternbergovi su pronašli sličan primjerak na istom području [[1910.]] godine,<ref name=CB04>{{cite book |last=Dal Sasso |first=Cristiano |coauthors=and Brillante, Giuseppe |year=2004 |title=Dinosaurs of Italy |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |page=112 |isbn=0-253-34514-6}}</ref> ne tako dobro očuvan, ali sa otiscima kože. Prodali su primjerak (SM 4036) Muzeju Senckenberg u [[Njemačka|Njemačkoj]].<ref name=NGD95/>
''Edmontosaurus'' itself was coined in 1917 by Lawrence Lambe for two partial skeletons found in the Edmonton Formation along the [[Red Deer River]] of southern Alberta, Canada.<ref name=LML17>{{cite journal |last=Lambe |first=Lawrence M. |authorlink=Lawrence Lambe |year=1917 |title=A new genus and species of crestless hadrosaur from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta |journal=The Ottawa Naturalist |volume=31 |issue=7 |pages=65–73 |url=http://ia360616.us.archive.org/2/items/ottawanaturalist31otta/ottawanaturalist31otta.pdf |format=pdf (entire volume, 18 mb) |accessdate=2009-03-08}}</ref> The Edmonton Formation lends the genus its name.<ref name=BSC07/> These specimens came from the lower Edmonton Formation, now known as the [[Horseshoe Canyon Formation]],<ref name=DFG97/> which is slightly older than the rocks in which ''Claosaurus annectens'' was found.<ref name=LW42c/> The [[type species]], ''E. regalis'' ("regal," or, more loosely, "king-sized"),<ref name=BSC07/> is based on [[National museums of Canada|NMC]] 2288, consisting of a skull, articulated vertebrae up to the sixth tail vertebra, ribs, partial hips, an upper arm bone, and most of a hind limb. It was discovered in 1912 by Levi Sternberg. The second specimen, paratype NMC 2289, consists of a skull and skeleton lacking the beak, most of the tail, and part of the feet. It was discovered in 1916 by [[George F. Sternberg]]. Lambe found that his new dinosaur compared best to ''Diclonius mirabilis'' (specimens now assigned to ''Anatotitan copei''), and drew attention to the size and robustness of ''Edmontosaurus''.<ref name=LML17/> Initially, Lambe only described the skulls of the two skeletons, but returned to the genus in 1920 to describe the skeleton of NMC 2289.<ref name=LML20/> The [[postcrania]] of the type specimen remains undescribed, still in its plaster jackets.<ref name=DFG97/>
Two more species that would come to be included with ''Edmontosaurus'' were named from Canadian remains in the 1920s, but both would initially be assigned to ''Thespesius''. Gilmore named the first, ''Thespesius edmontoni'', in 1924. ''T. edmontoni'' also came from the Edmonton Formation. It was based on NMC 8399, another nearly complete skeleton lacking most of the tail. NMC 8399 was discovered on the Red Deer River in 1912 by a Sternberg party.<ref name=CWG24/> Its forelimbs, ossified tendons, and skin impressions were briefly described in 1913 and 1914 by Lambe, who at first thought it was an example of a species he'd named ''Trachodon marginatus'',<ref name=LML13>{{cite journal |last=Lambe |first=Lawrence M. |authorlink=Lawrence Lambe |year=1913 |title=The manus in a specimen of ''Trachodon'' from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta |journal=The Ottawa Naturalist |volume=27 |pages=21–25}}</ref> but then changed his mind.<ref name=LML14>{{cite journal |last=Lambe |first=Lawrence M. |authorlink=Lawrence Lambe |year=1914 |title=On the fore-limb of a carnivorous dinosaur from the Belly River Formation of Alberta, and a new genus of Ceratopsia from the same horizon, with remarks on the integument of some Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaurs |journal=The Ottawa Naturalist |volume=27 |pages=129–135}}</ref> The specimen became the first dinosaur skeleton to be mounted for exhibition in a Canadian museum. Gilmore found that his new species compared closely to what he called ''Thespesius annectens'', but left the two apart because of details of the arms and hands. He also noted that his species had more vertebrae than Marsh's in the back and neck, but proposed that Marsh was mistaken in assuming that the ''annectens'' specimens were complete in those regions.<ref name=CWG24/>
In 1926, [[Charles Mortram Sternberg]] named ''Thespesius saskatchewanensis'' for NMC 8509, a skull and partial skeleton from the Wood Mountain plateau of southern [[Saskatchewan]]. He had collected this specimen in 1921, from rocks that were assigned to the Lance Formation,<ref name=CMS26/> now the [[Frenchman Formation]].<ref name=HWF04/> NMC 8509 included an almost complete skull, numerous vertebrae, partial shoulder and hip girdles, and partial hind limbs, representing the first substantial dinosaur specimen recovered from Saskatchewan. Sternberg opted to assign it to ''Thespesius'' because that was the only hadrosaurid genus known from the Lance Formation at the time.<ref name=CMS26/> At the time, ''T. saskatchewanensis'' was unusual because of its small size, estimated at {{convert|7|to|7.3|m|ft|sp=us}} in length.<ref name=LW42a/>
=== ''Anatosaurus'' do danas ===
Lull i Wright su [[1942.]] godine pokušali riješiti kompliciranu taksonomiju hadrosaurida bez krijeste stvaranjem novog roda, ''Anatosaurus'', za nekoliko vrsta koje se nisu dobro uklapale u prijašnje rodove. ''Anatosaurus'', što znači "patka-gušter", zbog širokog kljuna kao kod patke ([[Latinski jezik|lat]] ''anas'' = patka + [[Grčki jezik|grč.]] ''sauros'' = gušter), imao je kao tipičnu vrstu Marshovu staru vrstu ''Claosaurus annectens''. Ovom rodu su također bile priključene vrste ''Thespesius edmontoni'', ''T. saskatchewanensis'', velika donja čeljust koju je Marsh 1890. godine priključio vrsti ''Trachodon longiceps''; i nova vrsta, ''Anatosaurus copei'', za dva skeleta na izlaganju u Američkom prirodoslovnom muzeju koje su dugo nazivali ''Diclonius mirabilis''. Tako su navedene vrste postale ''Anatosaurus annectens'', ''A. copei'', ''A. edmontoni'', ''A. longiceps'' i ''A. saskatchewanensis''.<ref name=LW42c/> ''Anatosaurus'' će se poslije nazivati "klasičnim dinosaurom sa pačjim kljunom".<ref name=DFG82>{{cite book |last=Glut |first=Donald F. |title=The New Dinosaur Dictionary |year=1982 |publisher=Citadel Press |location=Secaucus, NJ |isbn=0-8065-0782-9 |page=57 }}</ref>
[[Datoteka:Dakota skin impression.jpg|thumb|left|Otisak kože primjerka nazvanog "Dakota", koji je pronađen 1999. godine]]
Takvo stanje stvari ostalo je nepromijenjeno nekoliko desetljeća, dok Michael K. Brett-Surman nije pregledao pertinentni materijal za svoje studentske radove 1970-ih i 1980-ih. Zaključio je da je tipična vrsta ''Anatosaurusa'', ''A. annectens'', zapravo vrsta roda ''Edmontosaurus'', a da je ''A. copei'' dovoljno različit da dobije vlastiti rod.<ref name=MKBS89/><ref name=MKBS75>{{cite book |last=Brett-Surman |first=Michael K. |year=1975 |title=The appendicular anatomy of hadrosaurian dinosaurs |series=M.A. thesis |publisher=University of California |location=Berkeley}}</ref><ref name=MKBS79>{{cite journal |last=Brett-Surman |first=Michael K. |year=1979 |title=Phylogeny and paleobiogeography of hadrosaurian dinosaurs |journal=Nature |volume=277 |issue=5697 |pages=560–562 |doi=10.1038/277560a0}}</ref> Iako ICZN, koji regulira davanje naziva vrstama, ne smatra teze i disertacije službenim objavama, njegovi zaključci su bili poznati ostalim paleontolozima i prisvojeni su u nekoliko popularnih radova tog vremena.<ref name=DFG82b>{{cite book |last=Glut |first=Donald F. |title=The New Dinosaur Dictionary |year=1982 |publisher=Citadel Press |location=Secaucus, NJ |isbn=0-8065-0782-9 |pages=49, 53}}</ref><ref name=DL83>{{cite book |last=Lambert |first=David |coauthors=and the Diagram Group |title=A Field Guide to Dinosaurs |year=1983 |publisher=Avon Books |location=New York |isbn=0-380-83519-3 |pages=156–161}}</ref> Brett-Surman i Ralph Chapman su imenovali novi rod za ''A. copei'' (''Anatotitan'') 1990. godine.<ref name=RCMBS90>{{cite book |last=Chapman |first=Ralph E. |coauthors=and Brett-Surman, Michael K. |year=1990 |chapter=Morphometric observations on hadrosaurid ornithopods |editors=Carpenter, Kenneth, and Currie, Philip J. (eds.) |title=Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |pages=163–177 |isbn=0-521-43810-1}}</ref> Od preostalih vrsta, ''A. saskatchewanensis'' i ''A. edmontoni'' su također priključene rodu ''Edmontosaurus'',<ref name=WH90/> a ''A. longiceps'' je priključen rodu ''Anatotitan'', ili kao druga vrsta<ref name=olshevsky1991>{{cite book |author=Olshevsky, George. |authorlink=George Olshevsky |year=1991 |title=A Revision of the Parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, Excluding the Advanced Crocodylia |series=Mesozoic Meanderings No. 2 |publisher=Publications Requiring Research |location=San Diego }}</ref> ili kao sinonim za ''A. copei''.<ref name=WH90/> Budući da je tipična vrsta roda ''Anatosaurus'' (''A. annectens'') premještena u ''Edmontosaurus'', naziv ''Anatosaurus'' je odbačen kao sinonim za ''Edmontosaurus''.
Koncepcija ''Edmontosaurusa'' koja se pojavila uključivala je tri validne vrste: tipična ''E. regalis'', ''E. annectens'' (uključujući ''Anatosaurus edmontoni'', izmijenjeno u ''edmontonensis''), i ''E. saskatchewanensis''.<ref name=WH90/> Debata o točnoj taksonomiji primjeraka ''A. copei'' nastavlja se do danas: vrativši se na Hatcherocv argumente iz 1902. godine, Jack Horner, [[David B. Weishampel]] i Catherine Forster smatraju ''Anatotitan copei'' kao primjerke ''Edmontosaurus annectens'' sa slomljenim lubanjama. <ref name=HWF04/> Godine 2007. objavljena je još jedna "mumija"; dat joj je nadimak "[[Dakota (fosil)|Dakota]]". [[Tyler Lyson]] ju je pronašao [[1999.]] godine u formaciji Hell Creek, Sjeverna Dakota.<ref name="ng"/><ref name="wp"/>
== Vrste i rasprostranjenost ==
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurus annectens specimen.jpg|thumb|Primjerak vrste ''Edmontosaurus annectens'' iz rijeke Red Deer, Alberta, Kanada, [[1917.]]]]
Za rod ''Edmontosaurus'' se trenutno smatra da sadrži tri validne vrste: tipičnu vrstu ''E. regalis'', ''E. annectens'' i ''E. saskatchewanensis''.<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=WH90/> ''E. regalis'' je pronađen u formacijama Horseshoe Canyon, St. Mary River, i Scollard u Alberti, u formaciji Hell Creek u Montani, Sjevernoj Dakoti i Južnoj Dakoti, u formaciji Lance u Južnoj Dakoti i Wyomingu i u formaciji Laramie u Coloradu; potiču iz vremena kasne krede. Poznato je barem dvanaest primjeraka, uključujući sedam lubanja sa postkranijalnim skeletom i pet do sedam drugih lubanja. ''Trachodon atavus'' i ''Agathaumas milo'' su potencijalnii sinonimi.<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=WH90/>
''E. annectens'' je u najnovijem pregledu zapisan kao prisutan u formacijama Scollard, Hell Creek, Lance i Laramie. Ograničen je na kamenje kasnog Maastrichtija i poznat je od barem 5 lubanja sa postkranijalnim skeletom.<ref name=HWF04/> Jedan autor, Kraig Derstler, je opisao ''E. annectens'' kao "dinosaura o kojem do danas možda najviše znamo [1994.]."<ref name=KD94>{{cite book |last=Derstler |first=Kraig |year=1994 |editor=Nelson, Gerald E. (ed.) |title=The Dinosaurs of Wyoming |series=Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook, 44th Annual Field Conference |chapter=Dinosaurs of the Lance Formation in eastern Wyoming |publisher=Wyoming Geological Association |pages=127–146}}</ref> ''Thespesius edmontoni'' ili ''edmontonensis'', ''Anatosaurus copei'' i ''Trachodon longiceps'' su smatrani sinonimima ''E. annectens'' u jednom pregledu iz 2004. godine.<ref name=HWF04/> ''T. edmontoni'' je zapravo priključen vrsti ''E. annectens'' već od 1990,<ref name=WH90/> iako sinonimizaciju ''A. copei'' i ''T. longiceps'' još uvijek nisu testirali drugi autori. Ako dokažu da pripada vrsti ''E. annectens'', njegov ukupni broj primjeraka povećat će se za 5 primjeraka koji se priključuju ''A. copei''<ref name=RCMBS90/> i za donju čeljust koja je holotipni primjerak ''T. longiceps'' (broj dat za ''E. annectens'' u Horner ''et al.'' [2004.] je netočan, budući da nije drugačiji od ranije objave<ref name=WH90/> u kojoj se ''A. copei'' i ''T. longiceps'' nisu smatrali sinonimima ''E. annectens''). Popis formacija možda je netočan, ovisno o formaciji iz koje dolazi ''T. edmontoni'' (nije navedeno iz kojeg dijela stare formacije Edmonton je primjerak došao). ''T. edmontoni'' je možda bio priključen krivoj vrsti; James Hopson je 1975. godine predložio da je to mladi primjerak vrste ''E. regalis'',<ref name=JAH75/> a Nicolas Campione je također zaključio da se njegova lubanja nije razlikovala od ''E. regalis'' u istraživanju iz 2009. godine.<ref name=campione2009>Campione, N.E. (2009). "Cranial variation in ''Edmontosaurus'' (Hadrosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of North America." ''North American Paleontological Convention (NAPC 2009): Abstracts'', p. 95a. [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnapc2009.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F06%2Fnapc-2009-abstracts-cinc-mus-ctr-sci-cont-3.pdf&ei=p5y1TcXdOYLTgQfh88itDQ&usg=AFQjCNGSQUbrH6HnjHQKs0ki76RUhdLQDA&sig2=i709LeLWA7-VpjwwqehJIw PDF link]</ref> ''E. annectens'' se razlikovao od ''E. regalis'' dužom, nižom i sitnijom lubanjom.<ref name=DFG97/> Iako je Brett-Surman smatrao ''E. regalis'' i ''E. annectens'' kao potencijalne mužjake i ženke iste vrste,<ref name=MKBS89/> ali primjerci ''E. regalis'' su pronađeni u starijim formacijama od primjeraka ''E. annectens''.<ref name=campione2009/>
''E. saskatchewanensis'' je poznat od pet jedinki, većinom lubanja. Nađen je samo u formaciji Frenchman u Saskatchewanu.<ref name=HWF04/> Razlikuje se od druge dvije vrste po manjoj veličini.<ref name=CMS26/><ref name=DFG97/> Malo se pisalo o ovoj vrsti otkada je opisana, u odnosu na druge dvije. Radovi Nicolasa Campionea su pokazali da je vjerojatno sinonim ''E. annectens'', ali potrebno je više istraživanja.<ref name=campione2009/>
Uz to, postoje mnogi fosili ''Edmontosaurusa'' koji još uvijek nisu identificirani da pripadaju bilo kojoj vrsti. Ostaci koji nisu priključeni nekoj posebnoj vrsti (''E.'' sp.) mogli bi proširiti rasprostranjenost roda do formacija Prince Creek, [[Aljaska]]<ref name=bbdb07>{{cite web|url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/rogers/bonebeds_chapter2_appendix.xls|title=Evolution of Terrestrial Ecosystems Bonebed Database|last=Behrensmeyer|first=Anna K.|year=2007|work=Bonebeds: Genesis, Analysis, and Paleobiological Significance|publisher=University of Chicago Press|accessdate=2008-12-07|format=Excel spreadsheet}}</ref> i Javelina, [[Texas]].<ref name=DBWetal04>{{cite book |last=Weishampel |first=David B. |authorlink=David B. Weishampel |coauthors=Barrett, Paul M.; Coria, Rodolfo A.; Le Loueff, Jean; Xu Xing; Zhao Xijin; Sahni, Ashok; Gomani, Elizabeth M.P.; and Noto, Christopher N. |editor=Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.)|title=The Dinosauria |edition=2nd |year= 2004|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=517–606 |chapter=Dinosaur distribution }}</ref>
== Paleoekologija ==
Raspon ''Edmontosaurusa'', i u smislu vremena i rasprostranjenosti, bio je velik. Po starosti, mogu se odrediti dvije grupe kamena u kojem se ova vrsta može naći: starije formacije Horseshoe Canyon i St. Mary River, i mlađe formacije Frenchman, Hell Creek, Lance, Laramie i Scollard. Raspon vremena koji pokrivaju formacije Horseshoe Canyon i njoj ekvivalentne se naziva Edmontonijski, a raspon vremena koje pokrivaju mlađe formacije naziva se Lancijski. Ta dva perioda imala su različitu faunu.<ref name=PD96>{{cite book|last=Dodson |first=Peter |authorlink=Peter Dodson |title=The Horned Dinosaurs: A Natural History|publisher = Princeton University Press |year=1996 |location=Princeton |pages=14–15 |isbn=0-691-05900-4}}</ref>
=== Edmontonijska paleoekologija ===
The Edmontonian land vertebrate age is defined by the first appearance of ''Edmontosaurus regalis'' in the fossil record.<ref name=kirtlandian>{{cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Robert M. |coauthors=and Lucas, Spencer G. |year=2006 |chapter=The Kirtlandian land-vertebrate "age" – faunal composition, temporal position and biostratigraphic correlation in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous of western North America |url=http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/science/bulletins/35/sci_bulletin35_2.pdf |format=pdf |title=Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior |editors=Lucas, Spencer G.; and Sullivan, Robert M. (eds.) |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science |location=Albuquerque, New Mexico | series=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin '''35''' |pages=7–29 }}</ref> Although sometimes reported as of exclusively early Maastrichtian age,<ref name=DBWetal04/> the Horseshoe Canyon Formation was of somewhat longer duration. Deposition began approximately 73 million years ago, in the late [[Campanian]], and ended between 68.0 and 67.6 million years ago.<ref name=wuetal2007>{{cite journal |last=Wu |first=X-C. |coauthors=Brinkman, D.B.; Eberth, D.A.; and Braman, D.R. |year=2007 |title=A new ceratopsid dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the uppermost Horseshoe Canyon Formation (upper Maastrichtian), Alberta, Canada |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Science |volume=44 |issue=9 |pages=1243–1265 |doi=10.1139/E07-011}}</ref> ''Edmontosaurus regalis'' is known from the lowest of five units within the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, but is absent from at least the second to the top.<ref name=DAE02>{{cite journal |last=Eberth |first=David A. |year=2002 |title=Review and comparison of Belly River Group and Edmonton Group stratigraphy and stratigraphic architecture in the southern Alberta Plains |journal=Canadian Society of Petroleum Geology Diamond Jubilee Convention, Programs and Abstracts |volume=117 |pages=(cd) |url=http://www.cspg.org/conventions/abstracts/2002abstracts/extended/227S0125.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2009-03-08}}</ref> As many as three quarters of the dinosaur specimens from [[badlands]] near [[Drumheller, Alberta|Drumheller]], Alberta may pertain to ''Edmontosaurus''.<ref name=DAR89>{{cite book |last=Russell |first=Dale A. |authorlink=Dale Russell |title=An Odyssey in Time: Dinosaurs of North America |year=1989 |publisher=NorthWord Press, Inc. |location=Minocqua, Wisconsin |isbn=1-55971-038-1 |pages=170–171 }}</ref> The Horseshoe Canyon Formation is interpreted as having a significant marine influence, due to an encroaching [[Western Interior Seaway]], the [[Epeiric sea|shallow sea]] that covered the midsection of North America through much of the [[Cretaceous]].<ref name=PD96/> ''E. regalis'' shared the setting with fellow hadrosaurids ''[[Hypacrosaurus]]'' and ''[[Saurolophus]]'', [[hypsilophodont]] ''[[Parksosaurus]]'', horned dinosaurs ''[[Montanoceratops]]'', ''[[Anchiceratops]]'', ''[[Arrhinoceratops]]'', and ''[[Pachyrhinosaurus]]'', [[pachycephalosauria|pachycephalosaurid]] ''[[Stegoceras]]'', [[ankylosauridae|ankylosaurid]] ''[[Euoplocephalus]]'', [[nodosauridae|nodosaurid]] ''[[Edmontonia]]'', [[ornithomimosauria|ostrich-mimics]] ''[[Ornithomimus]]'' and ''[[Struthiomimus]]'', a variety of poorly known small [[theropoda|theropods]] including [[troodontidae|troodontids]] and [[dromaeosauridae|dromaeosaurids]], and the [[tyrannosauridae|tyrannosaurids]] ''[[Albertosaurus]]'' and ''[[Daspletosaurus]]''.<ref name=DBWetal04/> ''Edmontosaurus'' is found in coastal, near-marine settings, while ''Hypacrosaurus'' and ''Saurolophus'' are found in more continental lowlands.<ref name=RC67>{{cite journal |last=Russell |first=Dale A. |coauthors=and Chamney, T. P. |year=1967 |title=Notes on the biostratigraphy of dinosaurian and microfossil faunas in the Edmonton Formation (Cretaceous), Alberta |journal=National Museum of Canada Natural History Papers |volume=35 |pages=1–35}}</ref> ''Edmontosaurus'' and ''Saurolophus'' are not usually found together.<ref name=SciDaily07>{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070629091349.htm|title=City Site Was Dinosaur Dining Room|date=2007-07-03|work=ScienceDaily|publisher=ScienceDaily|accessdate=2008-12-07}}</ref> The typical edmontosaur habitat of this formation has been described as the back regions of [[Taxodium distichum|bald cypress]] [[swamp]]s and [[bog|peat bogs]] on [[river delta|delta]] coasts. ''Pachyrhinosaurus'' also preferred this habitat to the [[floodplain]]s dominated by ''Hypacrosaurus'', ''Saurolophus'', ''Anchiceratops'' and ''Arrhinoceratops''.<ref name=DAR89/> The Edmontonian-age coastal ''Pachyrhinosaurus''-''Edmontosaurus'' association is recognized as far north as Alaska.<ref name=DJC01>{{cite book |last=Lehman |first=Thomas M. |year=2001 |chapter=Late Cretaceous dinosaur provinciality |editors=Tanke, Darren; and Carpenter, Kenneth (eds.) |title=Mesozoic Vertebrate Life |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |pages=310–328 |isbn=0-253-33907-3 }}</ref>
=== Lancijska paleoekologija ===
The Lancian time interval was the last interval before the [[Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event]] that eliminated non-[[bird|avian]] dinosaurs. ''Edmontosaurus'' was one of the more common dinosaurs of the interval. Robert Bakker reports that it made up one-seventh of the large dinosaur sample, with most of the rest (five-sixths) made up of the horned dinosaur ''[[Triceratops]]''.<ref name=RTB86b>Bakker, Robert T. (1986). ''The Dinosaur Heresies''. p. 438.</ref> The [[coastal plain]] ''Triceratops''–''Edmontosaurus'' association, dominated by ''Triceratops'', extended from Colorado to Saskatchewan.<ref name=DJC01/> Typical dinosaur faunas of the Lancian formations where ''Edmontosaurus'' has been found also included the hypsilophodont ''[[Thescelosaurus]]'', the rare hadrosaurid ''Anatotitan'', the rare ceratopsids ''[[Nedoceratops]]'' (="Diceratops") and ''[[Torosaurus]]'', pachycephalosaurids ''[[Pachycephalosaurus]]'' and ''[[Stygimoloch]]'', the ankylosaurid ''[[Ankylosaurus]]'', and the theropods ''Ornithomimus'', ''[[Troodon]]'', and ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]''.<ref name=DBWetal04/><ref name=HCFF>{{cite web | author = Phillip Bigelow | title = Cretaceous "Hell Creek Faunal Facies"; Late Maastrichtian | url= http://www.scn.org/~bh162/hellcreek2.html | accessdate = 2010-08-07 }}</ref>
[[Datoteka:Hell Creek.jpg|thumb|Formacija Hell Creek je veoma izložena u badlandsu u blizini brane Fort Peck.]]
The Hell Creek Formation, as typified by exposures in the [[Fort Peck, Montana|Fort Peck]] area of Montana, has been interpreted as a flat forested floodplain, with a relatively dry [[subtropics|subtropical]] climate that supported a variety of plants ranging from [[flowering plant|angiosperm]] [[tree]]s, to conifers such as bald cypress, to [[fern]]s and [[ginkgo]]s. The coastline was hundreds of kilometers or miles to the east. Stream-dwelling turtles and [[arboreal|tree-dwelling]] [[multituberculata|multituberculate]] mammals were diverse, and [[monitor lizard]]s as large as the modern [[Komodo dragon]] hunted on the ground. ''Triceratops'' was the most abundant large dinosaur, and ''Thescelosaurus'' the most abundant small herbivorous dinosaur. Edmontosaur remains have been collected here from stream channel sands, and include fossils from individuals as young as a meter- or yard-long infant. The edmontosaur fossils probably represent accumulations from groups on the move.<ref name=DAR89b>Russell, Dale A. (1989). ''An Odyssey in Time: Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 175–180.</ref>
The Lance Formation, as typified by exposures approximately {{convert|100|km|mi|sp=us}} north of [[Fort Laramie National Historic Site|Fort Laramie]] in eastern Wyoming, has been interpreted as a [[bayou]] setting similar to the [[Louisiana]] coastal plain. It was closer to a large delta than the Hell Creek Formation depositional setting to the north and received much more sediment. Tropical [[Araucariaceae|araucarian]] [[pinophyta|conifers]] and [[arecaceae|palm]] trees dotted the [[hardwood]] forests, differentiating the flora from the northern coastal plain.<ref name=DAR89c>Russell, Dale A. (1989). ''An Odyssey in Time: Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 180–181.</ref> The climate was humid and subtropical, with conifers, [[sabal|palmettos]], and ferns in the swamps, and conifers, [[Fraxinus|ash]], [[live oak]], and [[shrub]]s in the forests.<ref name=KD94/> Freshwater fish, salamanders, turtles, diverse lizards, snakes, shorebirds, and small mammals lived alongside the dinosaurs. Small dinosaurs are not known in as great of abundance here as in the Hell Creek rocks, but ''Thescelosaurus'' once again seems to have been relatively common. ''Triceratops'' is known from many skulls, which tend to be somewhat smaller than those of more northern individuals. The Lance Formation is the setting of two edmontosaur "mummies".<ref name=DAR89c/>
== Paleobiologija ==
=== Mozak i nervni sustav ===
[[Datoteka:Pasta - triceratops brain.jpg|thumb|Crtež iz 1905. godine pokazuje relativno malene mozgove ''[[Triceratops]]a'' (vrh) i ''Edmontosaurusa'']]
The brain of ''Edmontosaurus'' has been described in several papers and abstracts through the use of [[endocranial cast|endocasts]] of the cavity where the brain had been. ''E. annectens''<ref name=OCM93>{{cite journal |last=Marsh |first=Othniel Charles |authorlink=Othniel Charles Marsh |year=1893 |title=The skull and brain of ''Claosaurus'' |journal=American Journal of Science |volume=45 |pages=83–86}}</ref><ref name=OCM96>{{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Othniel Charles |authorlink=Othniel Charles Marsh |year=1896 |chapter=The dinosaurs of North America |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey |location=Washington, D.C. |title=Sixteenth Annual report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1894–1895: Part 1 |url=http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/ar/ar16_1 |pages=133–244 |accessdate=2009-03-08}}</ref> and ''E. regalis'',<ref name=LML20/> as well as specimens not identified to species,<ref name=BB14>{{cite journal |last=Brown |first=Barnum |authorlink=Barnum Brown |year=1914 |title=''Anchiceratops'', a new genus of horned dinosaurs from the Edmonton Cretaceous of Alberta, with discussion of the ceratopsian crest and the brain casts of ''Anchiceratops'' and ''Trachodon'' |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |volume=33 |pages=539–548}}</ref><ref name=LW42h>Lull, Richard Swann; and Wright, Nelda E. (1942). ''Hadrosaurian Dinosaurs of North America''. pp. 122–128.</ref><ref name=JHH01>{{cite journal |last=Jerison |first=Harry J. |coauthors=Horner, John R.; and Horner, Celeste C |year=2001 |title=Dinosaur forebrains |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=21 |issue=3, Suppl. |page=64A}}</ref> have been studied in this way. The brain was not particularly large for an animal the size of ''Edmontosaurus''. The space holding it was only about a quarter of the length of the skull,<ref name=LML20/> and various endocasts have been measured as displacing {{convert|374|ml|USfloz|0|sp=us}}<ref name=JHH01/> to {{convert|450|ml|USfloz|0|sp=us}},<ref name=LW42h/> which does not take into account that the brain may have occupied as little as 50% of the space of the endocast, the rest of the space being taken up by the [[dura mater]] surrounding the brain.<ref name=LW42h/><ref name=JHH01/> For example, the brain of the specimen with the 374 millilitre endocast is estimated to have had a volume of {{convert|268|ml|USfloz|0|sp=us}}.<ref name=JHH01/> The brain was an elongate structure,<ref name=LW42h/> and as with other non-mammals, there would have been no [[neocortex]].<ref name=JHH01/> Like ''[[Stegosaurus]]'', the [[neural canal]] was expanded in the hips, but not to the same degree: the endosacral space of ''Stegosaurus'' had 20 times the volume of its endocranial cast, whereas the endosacral space of ''Edmontosaurus'' was only 2.59 times larger in volume.<ref name=LW42h/>
=== Ishrana ===
==== Prilagodbe ishrani ====
Kao hadrosaurid, ''Edmontosaurus''je bio veliki biljožder. Njegovi zubi su se svo vrijeme zamjenjivali i zbijali se u skupine koje su sadržavale stotine zuba, od kojih je samo nekolicina korištena.<ref name=HWF04/> Koristio je široki kljun za rezanje mekane hrane, možda otkidajući vrhove ili zatvarajući usta slično kao školjka preko grančica i tako otkidajući hranjivije lišće i pupove.<ref name=JHO64/> Because the tooth rows are deeply indented from the outside of the jaws, and because of other anatomical details, it is inferred that ''Edmontosaurus'' and most other ornithischians had cheek-like structures, muscular or non-muscular. Funkcija obraza bila je zadržavanje hrane u ustima.<ref name=PMG73>{{cite journal |last=Galton |first=Peter M.|year=1973 |title=The cheeks of ornithischian dinosaurs |journal=Lethaia |volume=6 |pages=67–89 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.1973.tb00873.x}}</ref><ref name=FS04>Fastovsky, D.E., and Smith, J.B. (2004). "Dinosaur paleoecology." ''The Dinosauria''. pp. 614–626.</ref> Hranio bi se od nivoa tla do 4 metra uvis.<ref name=HWF04/>
Prije 1960-ih i 70-ih, većinom se smatralo da su hadrosauridi poput ''Edmontosaurusa'' bili vodene životinje i da su se hranili vodenim biljkama.<ref name=PMB05>{{cite journal |last=Barrett |first=Paul M. |year=2005 |title=The diet of ostrich dinosaurs (Theropoda: Ornithomimosauria) |journal=Palaeontology |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=347–358 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00448.x }}</ref> Jedan primjer ovoga je William Morrisova interpretacija lubanje edmontosaura sa nekoštanim ostacima kljuna iz 1970. godine. On je smatrao da se ova životinja hranila slično kao današnje patke, filtriranjem biljaka i vodenih beskralježnjaka iz vode, izbacujući vodu kroz brazde oblika slova V u unutrašnjem dijelu gornjeg kljuna.<ref name=WJM70/> Ta interpretacija kljuna je bila odbijena, budući da su brazde i grebeni bili sličniji onima kod kljunova kornjača biljoždera nego fleksibilnim strukturama kao kod ptica koje se hrane filtriranjem vode.<ref name=PMB05/>
[[Datoteka:Edmontosaurus skull 7.jpg|thumb|Lubanja ''Edmontosaurusa'', pokazuje pačji kljun i zube]]
The prevailing model of how hadrosaurids fed was put forward in 1984 by David B. Weishampel. He proposed that the structure of the skull permitted motion between bones that led to backward and forward motion of the lower jaw, and outward bowing of the tooth-bearing bones of the upper jaw when the mouth was closed. The teeth of the upper jaw would grind against the teeth of the lower jaw like [[rasp]]s, processing plant material trapped between them.<ref name=HWF04/><ref name=DBW84>{{cite book |last=Weishampel |first=David B. |authorlink=David B. Weishampel |year=1984|title=Evolution in jaw mechanics in ornithopod dinosaurs |series=''Advances in Anatomy, Embryology, and Cell Biology'' '''87''' |location=Berlin; New York |publisher=Springer-Verlag |pmid=6464809|isbn=0-387-13114-0 |issn=0301-5556}}</ref> Such a motion would parallel the effects of [[mastication]] in mammals, although accomplishing the effects in a completely different way.<ref name=NRetal08>{{cite journal |last=Rybczynski |first=Natalia |coauthors=Tirabasso, Alex; Bloskie, Paul; Cuthbertson, Robin; and Holliday, Casey |year=2008 |title=A three-dimensional animation model of ''Edmontosaurus'' (Hadrosauridae) for testing chewing hypotheses |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=online publication |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/2008_2/132/index.html |accessdate=2008-08-10}}</ref> An important piece of evidence for Weishampel's model is the orientation of scratches on the teeth, showing the direction of jaw action. Other movements could produce similar scratches, though, such as movement of the bones of the two halves of the lower jaw. Not all models have been scrutinized under present techniques.<ref name=CHLW08>{{cite journal|last=Holliday|first=Casey M. |coauthors=and Witmer, Lawrence M. |year=2008 |title=Cranial kinesis in dinosaurs: intracranial joints, protractor muscles, and their significance for cranial evolution and function in diapsids |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=1073–1088|doi=10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.1073}}</ref>
Weishampel developed his model with the aid of a computer simulation. Natalia Rybczynski and colleagues have updated this work with a much more sophisticated [[Three-dimensional space|three-dimensional]] animation model, scanning a skull of ''E. regalis'' with lasers. They were able to replicate the proposed motion with their model, although they found that additional secondary movements between other bones were required, with maximum separations of {{convert|1.3|to|1.4|cm|in|sp=us}} between some bones during the chewing cycle. Rybczynski and colleagues were not convinced that the Weishampel model is viable, but noted that they have several improvements to implement to their animation. Planned improvements include incorporating soft tissue and tooth wear marks and scratches, which should better constrain movements. They note that there are several other hypotheses to test as well.<ref name=NRetal08/> Further work by Casey Holliday and Lawrence Witmer found that ornithopods like ''Edmontosaurus'' lacked the types of skull joints seen in those modern animals that are known to have kinetic skulls (skulls that permit motion between their constituent bones), such as [[squamata|squamates]] and birds. They proposed that joints that had been interpreted as permitting movement in dinosaur skulls were actually [[cartilage|cartilaginous]] growth zones.<ref name=CHLW08/>
The immobile skull model was challenged in 2009 by Vincent Williams and colleagues. Returning to tooth microwear, they found four classes of scratches on ''Edmontosaurus'' teeth. The most common class was interpreted as resulting from an oblique motion, not a simple up-down or front-back motion, which is more consistent with the Weishampel model. This motion is thought to have been the primary motion for grinding food. Two scratch classes were interpreted as resulting from forward or backward movement of the jaws. The other class was variable and probably resulted from opening the jaws. The combination of movements is more complex than had been previously predicted. Because scratches dominate the microwear texture, Williams ''et al.'' suggested ''Edmontosaurus'' was a [[grazing|grazer]] instead of a [[Browsing (predation)|browser]], which would be predicted to have fewer scratches due to eating less abrasive materials. Candidates for ingested abrasives include [[silicon dioxide|silica]]-rich plants like [[equisetum|horsetails]] and soil that was accidentally ingested due to feeding at ground level.<ref name=VSWetal09>{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Vincent S. |coauthors=Barrett, Paul M.; and Purnell, Mark A. |year=2009 |title=Quantitative analysis of dental microwear in hadrosaurid dinosaurs,and the implications for hypotheses of jaw mechanics and feeding |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |pmid=19564603 |volume=106 |issue=27 |pmc=2708679 |pages=11194–11199 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0812631106 }}</ref>
Reports of [[gastrolith]]s, or stomach stones, in the hadrosaurid ''Claosaurus'' are actually based on a probable double misidentification. First, the specimen is actually of ''Edmontosaurus annectens''. [[Barnum Brown]], who discovered the specimen in 1900, referred to it as ''Claosaurus'' because ''E. annectens'' was thought to be a species of ''Claosaurus'' at the time. Additionally, it is more likely that the supposed gastroliths represent gravel washed in during burial.<ref name=BSC07/>
==== Sadržine iznutrica ====
[[Datoteka:Pasta - mummified trachodon - AmMusNatHist.jpg|thumb|Moguće sadržine iznutrica zabilježene su kod "mumije Trachodona", ali nikada nisu bile opisane.]]
Both of the "mummy" specimens collected by the Sternbergs were reported to have had possible gut contents. Charles H. Sternberg reported the presence of [[carbonization|carbonized]] gut contents in the American Museum of Natural History specimen,<ref name=CHS09>{{cite journal |last=Sternberg |first=Charles H. |authorlink=Charles Hazelius Sternberg |year=1909 |title=A new ''Trachodon'' from the Laramie Beds of Converse County, Wyoming |journal=Science |volume=29 |issue=749 |pages=753–54}}</ref> but this material has not been described.<ref name=CKM97>{{cite book |last=Currie |first=Philip J. |authorlink=Philip J. Currie |coauthors=Koppelhus, Eva B.; and Muhammad, A. Fazal |year=1995 |chapter="Stomach" contents of a hadrosaurid from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada |editors=Sun Ailing and Wang Yuangqing (editors) |title=Sixth Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota, Short Papers |publisher=China Ocean Press |location=Beijing |pages=111–114 |isbn=7-5027-3898-3}}</ref> The plant remains in the Senckenberg Museum specimen have been described, but have proven difficult to interpret. The plants found in the carcass included needles of the conifer ''Cunninghamites elegans'', twigs from conifer and broadleaf trees, and numerous small seeds or fruits.<ref name=RK22>{{cite journal |last=Kräusel |first=R. |year=1922 |title=Die Nahrung von ''Trachodon'' |journal=Paläontologische Zeitschrift |volume=4 |page=80 |language=German}}</ref> Upon their description in 1922, they were the subject of a debate in the German-language journal ''Paläontologische Zeitschrift''. Kräusel, who described the material, interpreted it as the gut contents of the animal,<ref name=RK22/> while Abel could not rule out that the plants had been washed into the carcass after death.<ref name=OA22>{{cite journal |last=Abel |first=O. |year=1922 |title=Diskussion zu den Vorträgen R. Kräusel and F. Versluys |journal=Paläontologische Zeitschrift |volume=4 |page=87 |language=German}}</ref>
[[Datoteka:Senckenberg Edmontosaurus.jpg|thumb|left|Primjerak iz muzeja Senckenberg]]
At the time, hadrosaurids were thought to have been aquatic animals, and Kräusel made a point of stating that the specimen did not rule out hadrosaurids eating water plants.<ref name=JHO64/><ref name=RK22/> The discovery of possible gut contents made little impact in English-speaking circles, except for another brief mention of the aquatic-terrestrial dichotomy,<ref name=GRW25>{{cite journal |last=Wieland |first=G. R. |year=1925 |title=Dinosaur feed |journal=Science |volume=61 |issue=1589 |pages=601–603 |doi=10.1126/science.61.1589.601 |pmid=17792714}}</ref> until it was brought up by [[John Ostrom]] in the course of an article reassessing the old interpretation of hadrosaurids as water-bound. Instead of trying to adapt the discovery to the aquatic model, he used it as a line of evidence that hadrosaurids were terrestrial herbivores.<ref name=JHO64/> While his interpretation of hadrosaurids as terrestrial animals has been generally accepted,<ref name=HWF04/> the Senckenberg plant fossils remain equivocal. [[Kenneth Carpenter]] has suggested that they may actually represent the gut contents of a starving animal, instead of a typical diet.<ref name=KC87/><ref name=KC07/> Other authors have noted that because the plant fossils were removed from their original context in the specimen and were heavily prepared, it is no longer possible to follow up on the original work, leaving open the possibility that the plants were washed-in debris.<ref name=CKM97/><ref name=JTetal2008>{{cite journal |last=Tweet |first=Justin S. |coauthors=Chin, Karen; Braman, Dennis R.; and Murphy, Nate L. |year=2008 |title=Probable gut contents within a specimen of ''Brachylophosaurus canadensis'' (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana |journal=PALAIOS |volume=23 |issue=9 |pages=624–635 |doi=10.2110/palo.2007.p07-044r}}</ref>
=== Izotopska istraživanja ===
The diet and [[physiology]] of ''Edmontosaurus'' have been probed by using [[stable isotope]]s of [[carbon]] and [[oxygen]] as recorded in [[tooth enamel]]. When feeding, drinking, and breathing, animals take in carbon and oxygen, which become incorporated into bone. The isotopes of these two elements are determined by various internal and external factors, such as the type of plants being eaten, the physiology of the animal, [[salinity]], and climate. If isotope ratios in fossils are not altered by fossilization and later [[diagenesis|changes]], they can be studied for information about the original factors; [[endothermy|warmblooded]] animals will have certain isotopic compositions compared to their surroundings, animals that eat certain types of plants or use certain digestive processes will have distinct isotopic compositions, and so on. Enamel is typically used because the structure of the mineral that forms enamel makes it the most resistant material to chemical change in the skeleton.<ref name=TC04/>
A 2004 study by Kathryn Thomas and Sandra Carlson used teeth from the upper jaw of three individuals interpreted as a juvenile, a subadult, and an adult, recovered from a bone bed in the Hell Creek Formation of [[Corson County, South Dakota|Corson County]], South Dakota. In this study, successive teeth in columns in the edmontosaurs' dental batteries were sampled from multiple locations along each tooth using a microdrilling system. This sampling method takes advantage of the organization of hadrosaurid dental batteries to find variation in tooth isotopes over a period of time. From their work, it appears that edmontosaur teeth took less than about 0.65 years to form, slightly faster in younger edmontosaurs. The teeth of all three individuals appeared to show variation in oxygen isotope ratios that could correspond to warm/dry and cool/wet periods; Thomas and Carlson considered the possibility that the animals were migrating instead, but favored local seasonal variations because migration would have more likely led to ratio homogenization, as many animals migrate to stay within specific temperature ranges or near particular food sources.<ref name=TC04/>
The edmontosaurs also showed enriched carbon isotope values, which for modern mammals would be interpreted as a mixed diet of [[C3 carbon fixation|C3]] plants (most plants) and [[C4 carbon fixation|C4]] plants (grasses); however, C4 plants were extremely rare in the Late Cretaceous if present at all. Thomas and Carlson put forward several factors that may have been operating, and found the most likely to include a diet heavy in [[gymnosperm]]s, consuming salt-stressed plants from coastal areas adjacent to the [[Western Interior Seaway]], and a physiological difference between dinosaurs and mammals that caused dinosaurs to form tissue with different carbon ratios than would be expected for mammals. A combination of factors is also possible.<ref name=TC04/>
=== Patologije i zdravlje ===
Kod kostiju ''Edmontosaurusa'' su 2003. pronađeni dokazi [[tumor]]a, uključujući i [[hemangiom]]e, [[dezmoplastični fibrom|dezmoplastične fibrome]], [[metastaze]] i [[osteoblastom]]e. Rothschild ''et al.'' je testirao kralješke dinosaura tražeći tumore korištenjem [[računalna tomografija|računalne tomografije]] (CT) i [[fluoroskopija|fluoroskopskog probiranja]]. Još neki hadrosauridi, uključujući i rodove ''Brachylophosaurus'', ''[[Gilmoreosaurus]]'' i ''[[Bactrosaurus]]'', također su bili pozitivni. Iako je na ovaj način pregledano više od 10 000 fosila, tumori su bili ograničeni na rod ''Edmontosaurus'' i bliske srodnike. Tumore su možda izazivali okolišni faktori ili genetska sklonost.<ref name="Rothschildetal">{{cite journal |last=Rothschild |first=B.M. |coauthors=Tanke, D. H.; Helbling II, M.; and Martin, L.D. |title=Epidemiologic study of tumors in dinosaurs |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=90 |issue=11 |pages=495–500 |year=2003 |url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/ktqqkxcqdc620keb/ |doi=10.1007/s00114-003-0473-9 |accessdate=2008-07-25 |pmid=14610645}}</ref>
[[Osteokondroza]] je također pronađena kod ''Edmontosaurusa''. Ovo stanje, rezultat nemogućnosti hrskavice da se zamijeni sa kosti tijekom odrastanja, bila je prisutna kod 2,2% od 224 prsta zadnjih udova edmontosaura. Razlog ovog stanja je nepoznat. Predložene su genetske predispozicije, traume, intenzitet hranjenja, promjene u opskrbi krvlju, višak hormona koje luči štitna žlijezda i deficiti u raznim faktorima rasta. Osteokondroza se kod dinosaura najčešće pronalazi kod hadrosaurida.<ref name=BRDT07>{{cite book |last=Rothschild |first=Bruce |coauthors=and Tanke, Darren H. |year=2007 |chapter=Osteochondrosis is Late Cretaceous Hadrosauria |editor=Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.) |title=Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |pages=171–183 |isbn=0-253-34817-X}}</ref>
=== Kretanje ===
Kao i kod ostalih hadrosaurida, smatra se da se ''Edmontosaurus'' većinu vremena kretao na četiri noge, ali da se mogao uspraviti na zadnje dvije kada je to bilo potrebno. Vjerojatno je bio na sve četiri noge dok je stajao ili sporo hodao, a da bi pri brzom kretanju koristio zadnje dvije noge.<ref name=HWF04/> Istraživanje računarskim modeliranjem iz 2007. godine pokazuje da je ''Edmontosaurus'' mogao trčati vrlo brzo, možda i do 45km/h.<ref name="ng"/> Daljnje simulacije korištenjem neodraslog primjerka, koji je težio oko 715 kg u životu, dale su model koji je mogao trčati i skakati na dvije noge, kasati, trčati kao deva ili galopirati. Znanstvenici su na svoje iznenađenje otkrili da se najbrže kretao pri skakanju kao klokan (maksimalna brzina 17,3 m u sekundi (ili 62 km/h)), što su odbacili kao nevjerojatno za životinju te veličine i zbog nedostatka fosilnih otisaka stopala koji pokazuju takvo kretanje; umjesto toga su protumačili rezultat kao pokazatelj netočnosti simulacije. Drugi najbrži način kretanja bio je galopiranje (maksimalna brzina 15,7 m/s (ili 75 km/h)) i dvonožno trčanje (14,0 m/s ili 50 km/h). Našli su slabe dokaze za trčanje na dvije noge kao najvjerojatniju opciju brzog kretanja, ali nisu izbacili brzo kretanje na četiri noge.<ref name=WISetal09>{{cite journal |last=Sellers |first=W. I. |coauthors=Manning, P. L.; Lyson, T.; Stevens, K.; and Margetts, L. |year=2009 |title=Virtual palaeontology: gait reconstruction of extinct vertebrates using high performance computing |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=unpaginated |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/2009_3/180/index.html|accessdate=2009-12-13}}</ref>
Iako se dugo smatralo da su bili vodene ili vodozemne životinje, hadrosauridi nisu bili tako dobro prilagođeni pilvanju kao drugi dinosauri (posebno teropodi, za koje se nekada smatralo da nisu mogli slijediti hadrosauride u vodu). Hadrosauridi su imali mršave prednje udove sa kratkim prstima, pa su oni bili neefikasni za pokretanje naprijed, a ni rep nije bio koristan zato što ga nisu mogli mnogo pokretati lijevo i desno.<ref name=RTB86/><ref name=MKBS97>{{cite book |last=Brett-Surman |first=M. K. |editor=James O. Farlow and M. K. Brett-Surman (eds.) |title=The Complete Dinosaur |year=1997 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=0-253-33349-0 |pages=330–346 |chapter=Ornithopods }}</ref>
=== Interakcije s teropodima ===
[[Datoteka:DMNS Edmontosaurus.png|thumb|Šteta na repnim kralješcima ovog skeleta ''Edmontosaurusa'' pokazuje da ga je možda ugrizao ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]''.]]
Vremenski raspon i geografska rasprostranjenost ''Edmontosaurusa'' preklapao se sa ''[[Tyrannosaurus]]ovim''. Odrasli primjerak ''E. annectens'' u Denverskom muzeju prirode i znanosti pokazuje dokaze ujeda nekog teropoda na repu. Brojeći od križnice, od kralješci od trinaestog do sedamnaestog imaju oštećene šiljaste nastavke u skladu sa napadom sa donje desne strane životinje. Jedan šiljasti nastavak ima jedan otkinut dio, a ostali su izvijeni; tri imaju jasne tragove oštećenja od zuba. Vrh repa je bio visok barem 2,9 m, a jedini teropod poznat iz iste formacije koji je bio dovoljno visok da nanese takvu ozljedu bio je ''T. rex''. Kosi su djelomično zarasle, ali je edmontosaur uginuo prije nego što su znaci štete potpuno nestali. Također postoje znakovi infekcije. Kenneth Carpenter, koji je istraživao ovaj primjerak, naglasio je da izgleda kao da ima zarasla fraktura na lijevoj strani kukovlja, ali koja je morala biti starija od navedenih ozljeda jer je više zacijelila. On je pretpostavio da je taj edmontosaur bio meta zato što je možda još uvijek šepao od prijašnje ozljede. Budući da je preživio napad, Carpenter je pretpostavio da je bio brži ili okretniji od napadača, ili da je ozljeda na repu nastala zbog toga što ga je koristio u obrani protiv grabežljivca.<ref name=carpenter1998>{{cite_journal |last=Carpenter |first=Kenneth |authorlink=Kenneth Carpenter |year=1998 |title=Evidence of predatory behavior by theropod dinosaurs. |journal=Gaia |volume=15 |pages=135–144 |url=http://vertpaleo.org/publications/jvp/15-576-591.cfm |accessdate=2009-03-08}} [not printed until 2000]</ref>
Još jedan primjerak vrste ''E. annectens'', jedinka duga 7,6 m iz Južne Dakote, ima tragove zuba malenih teropoda u donjoj čeljusti. Neke od tih ozljeda bile su jednim dijelom zacijelile. Michael Triebold, koji je neformalno pričao o tom primjerku, pretpostavio je scenario u kojem su maleni teropodi napadali vrat edmontosaura; životinja je preživjela napad, ali je nedugo zatim podlegla ozljedama.<ref name=CT00>{{cite journal |last=Campagna |first=Tony |year=2000 |title=The PT interview: Michael Triebold |journal=Prehistoric Times |volume=40 |pages=18–19}}</ref> Neka nalazišta kostiju edmontosaura bila su mjesta na kojima su se okupljali strvinari. Tragovi zuba ''Albertosaurusa'' i ''[[Saurornitholestes]]a'' su česti u jednom nalazištu u Alberti,<ref name=JR99>{{cite journal |last=Jacobsen |first=Aase Roland |coauthors=and Ryan, Michael J. |year=2000 |title=Taphonomic aspects of theropod tooth-marked bones from an ''Edmontosaurus'' bone bed (Lower Maastrichtian), Alberta, Canada |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=19 |issue=3, suppl. |pages=55A }}</ref> a ''[[Daspletosaurus]]'' se hranio strvinama ''Edmontosaurusa'' i ''Saurolophusa'' na drugom nalazištu u Alberti.<ref name=SciDaily07/>
=== Društveno ponašanje ===
Ekstenzivna nalazišta kostiju ''Edmontosaurusa'' i slične velike grupe fosila drugih hadrosaurida koriste se kao dokaz da su bili društveni i živjeli u grupama.<ref name=HWF04/> Četiri kamenoloma sa ostacima edmontosaura identificirana u bazi podataka o fosilnim nalazištima iz 2007. godine su: [[Aljaska]] (formacija Prince Creek), Alberta (formacija Horseshoe Canyon), Južna Dakota (formacija Hell Creek) i [[Wyoming]] (formacija Lance).<ref name=bbdb07/> Jedno nalazište u formaciji Lance pokriva više od jednog kvadratnog kilometra, ali kosti ''Edmontosaurusa'' su najčešće u jednom dijelu nalazišta površine 40 ha. Procjenjuje se da se tu nalazi 10 000 do 25 000 raštrkanih ostataka edmontosaura.<ref name=ACetal06>{{cite journal |last=Chadwick |first=Arthur |coauthors=Spencer, Lee; and Turner, Larry |year=2006 |title=Preliminary depositional model for an Upper Cretaceous ''Edmontosaurus'' bonebed |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=26 |issue=3, suppl. |pages=49A }}</ref>
Za razliku od mnogih hadrosaurida, ''Edmontosaurus'' nije imao koštanu krijestu. S druge strane, možda je imao strukture od mekog tkiva na lubanji: kosti oko nosnih otvora imale su duboke udubine i za te udubine se smatra da su omogućavale zračne vreće koje su se mogle napuhati, možda omogućavajući i vizualnu i komunikaciju zvukom.<ref name=JAH75/> ''Edmontosaurus'' je možda bio dimorfičan, sa robusnijim i lakše građenim formama, ali još uvijek se ne zna je li u pitanju spolni dimorfizam.<ref name=GRetal03>{{cite journal |last=Gould |first=Rebecca |coauthors=Larson, Robb; and Nellermoe, Ron |year=2003 |title=An allometric study comparing metatarsal IIs in ''Edmontosaurus'' from a low-diversity hadrosaur bone bed in Corson Co., SD |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=23 |issue=3, suppl. |pages=56A–57A }}</ref>
Zbog svoje ogromne rasprostranjenosti, koja je pokrivala razdaljinu od Aljaske do Colorada i koja je uključivala i neka polarna područja koja bi dobar dio godine bila bez sunčeve svjetlosti, smatra se da je ''Edmontosaurus'' migrirao. U pregledu migracija kod dinosaura kojeg su 2008. godine proveli Phil R. Bell i Eric Snively, došli su do zaključka da je ''E. regalis'' bio sposoban za godišnje putovanje dužine 2600 km, ako je imao predispozicije prema skupljanju sala i odgovarajući metabolizam. Takvo putovanje bi zahtijevalo brzinu od 2 do 10 km/h i išlo bi od Aljaske do Alberte. Moguća migratorna priroda ''Edmontosaurusa'' je u kontrastu sa mnogim drugim dinosaurima, poput [[teropodi|teropoda]], [[sauropodi|sauropoda]] i [[ankilosaura]], za koje Bell i Snively smatraju da su prezimljavali.<ref name=PBES08>{{cite journal|last=Bell |first=Phil R. |coauthors=and Snively, E. |year=2008 |title=Polar dinosaurs on parade: a review of dinosaur migration |journal=Alcheringa |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=271–284 |doi=10.1080/03115510802096101}}</ref><ref name=RLlivesci08>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/animals/081204-polar-dinosaurs.html |title=Polar Dinosaurs Endured Cold Dark Winters |last=Lloyd |first=Robin |date=2008-12-04 |work=LiveScience.com |publisher=Imaginova |accessdate=2008-12-11}}</ref>
== Izvori ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== Vanjske poveznice ==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies|Edmontosaurus}}
*[http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=467 Šta je ''Edmontosaurus'' jeo? Kako je žvakao?] Planet Earth online
