12" Partial Fossil Edmontosaurus Humerus - South Dakota

Partial Fossil Edmontosaurus Humerus - South Dakota #145877

This is a 12" long, juvenile Hadrosaur (Edmontosaurus annectens) partial humerus bone from the left arm, collected from the Hell Creek Formation in Harding County, South Dakota. It was collected this last spring and has been nicely prepared from the hard rock surrounding it.

This is the proximal half of the humerus (shoulder end). The distal half of the humerus just beneath deltopectoral crest wasn't recovered. Overall, the bone preservation is pretty nice, with cortical bone still present. The bone was found fractured and required some crack repair to piece back together. The articular head broke away, revealing the nicely preserved bone matrix.

It comes with an acrylic display stand.

Hadrosaurs

are frequently referred to as duck-billed dinosaurs and are members of the Ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. They were fairly common herbivores that roamed Asia, Europe, and North America during the Upper Cretaceous Period. Many species of Hadrosaurs had distinctive crests on their heads, some of which had air-filled chambers that may have produced a distinct sound. These crests may have been used for both audio and visual display purposes.

The Hell Creek Formation

Renowned for both its age and rich sedimentary layers, the Hell Creek Formation is one of the most intensively studied fossil-bearing regions on Earth. To date, scientists have documented 158 genera of animals and 64 genera of plants from its rocks, with new finds emerging regularly. Beyond iconic dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs, ceratopsians, and hadrosaurs, the formation has produced an extraordinary array of life, including amphibians, reptiles, lizards, snakes, turtles, fish, sharks, birds, and early mammals. Together, these fossils provide the most complete picture of the ecosystems that thrived just before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

More about Hadrosaurs