Altirhinus is a
close cousin of Iguanadon & was regarded as a species of, (I. Orientalis.)
Altirhinus differs from Iguanadon only in its greater number of teeth, a flatter
wider bill, & the very prominent nose. Altirhinus was recovered from the
Khukhtek formation at Mongolia in 1981. This showed it lived between 100-120
million years ago. It would've been 7-8 meters in length & 2 meters tall at
the hip, with a foot-long skull.
Altirhinus is stands out from other
Iguanadonts in two ways: the large nasal cavity that probably shows a very good
sense of smell, & the fact that it may be ancestral to the Hadrosaurs, a
group of ornithopods that all have some form of ornamentation on their noses
& includes the famed Lambeosaurs, whose hollow bony head crests have been a
mystery since they were discovered.
Altirhinus must
have looked very similar to the Australian Muttaburrasaurus, another dinosaur
with a high nose, the highest part of their head. Muttaburrasaurus &
Altirhinus were probably closely related & lived similar lifestyles.
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