HADROSAURUS

Age - Cretaceous  Commonality - Scarce

Although New Jersey does not have a state fossil, we do have a state dinosaur, Hadrosaurus foulkii. In 1858, a dinosaur skeleton was unearthed in Haddonfield, NJ; the first full dinosaur skeleton found in North America and, in 1868, Hadrosaurus foulkii became the first ever mounted dinosaur skeleton. Hadrosaurus have their own group of distinguishing characteristics which included broad toothless beaks (giving them the name duckbilled) and large batteries of teeth. These batteries often had hundreds of teeth, all fitted together to form massive grinding surfaces. As these diamond shaped teeth wore down they were replaced by new ones. I found this tooth at the end of a rather unproductive trip one New Years Eve day. With my feet too cold to stay in the water any longer I decided to scan the gravel banks. I picked this up and had to give it a long look before I realized what I had.

An individual hadrosaurus had upwards of 1500 to 2000 teeth.
 Worn teeth were shed and replaced with new ones.

Replica hadrosaurus jaw

  The original specimen of Hadrosaurus foulkii, is housed at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel
 University (formally Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia).
  A few pictures of the actual bones I took while touring the back rooms of the Academy.  

In 1994 the Hadrosaurus foulkii discovery site was
 declared a national historic landmark.

John Giannotti's Hadrosaurus foulkii sculpture was unveiled on Oct. 18, 2003
in the town of Haddenfield, NJ.

(Photo by Jill Schensul)