Hadrosaurs of the Southwest

Photo by Elias Garcia-Ortiz

The skeleton of Kritosaurus is not well known. Recreations of the skeleton and fleshed out body are based in part on Barnum Brown's reconstructions using Edmontosaurus and in part on the similarities inherent in all hadrosaurine body plans. The skull, as we know, was the only definitive evidence of the existence of Kritosaurus and it was crushed on the front half of it. Other evidence of Kritosaurus has been fragmentary at best and does not fill in too many of the gaps. The latest published studies have upheld a single species, Kritosaurus horneri, as existing distinguishable from other remains and synonymizing Kritosaurus navajovius with Anasazisaurus, another hadrosaur. The taxonomy is difficult and the relationships are very intertwined at the moment; looking at the skeleton is not going to settle this argument for sure!