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This duck-billed dinosaur is an Olorotitan. It was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to go extinct. Until we resurrected it, that is. Now it lives to be studied and put on display. The Olorotitan is a herbivore. As it grinds away its teeth while eating, it has hundreds more that continually take their place. There's a lesson in there somewhere.

Olorotitan is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur that originated from Late Cretaceous Asia. A large, graceful herbivore, Olorotitan is included in the Secrets of Dr. Wu DLC and becomes available to Hammond Foundation operations upon completion of the Science Division mission in the Muerta East facility.

Characteristics

One of the largest hadrosaurs in the Evolution series, measuring up to 10 meters in length, Olorotitan is a large herbivore from the Late Cretaceous with distinctive duck-billed snout. Its name – its name translates to "Gigantic Swan", in reference to its long neck and striking fan-like crest on top of its head. While they are mostly bipedal, Olorotitan stand on all four limbs in a quadrupedal manner while feeding.

The base genome of the Olorotitan is light brown with creamy underbelly that turn into stripes that cover the tail. They have bright colored crests and additional orange stripes that go along the body.

Behaviour

Olorotitan has a minimum herd requirement of three individuals and is unique in that it requires a population of four, either of fourth Olorotitan or another dinosaur. Due to their population tolerances, they make excellent additions to mixed herbivore exhibits. However, it is not advised to house them with most carnivorous species, as, like other hadrosaurs, they cannot defend themselves.

Paleontology

In 2003, the first Olorotitan remains – a near-complete skeleton, in fact the most complete dinosaur specimen ever found in Russia – were discovered in the banks of the Amur River in Russia's Udurchukan Formation around the turn of the millennium. The same year, it was classified as a new genus by celebrated Belgian paleontologist Pascal Godefroit. Buried under a mudslide, the specimen was complete, and preserved well enough, that scientists were able to study the animal's brain structure. A carnivorous dinosaur's tooth was also found lodged in the Olorotitan's tail bones. Its name means "Titanic Swan" for its neck, which was much longer than those of other hadrosaurs. It was closely related to the more famous and well-known Lambeosaurus, as well as Corythosaurus, Tsintaosaurus, and Hypacrosaurus. The elaborate crest of the Olorotitan has helped paleontologists in reconstructing a more accurate crest for the Tsintaosaurus, which was initially believed to have a horn that resembles that of a narwhal.

Olorotitan is currently the most complete lambeosaurine hadrosaur found outside of North America and lived during later stages of the Cretaceous than many of its North American relatives. During the Maastrichtian stage, lambeosaurine hadrosaurs had become very rare in North America, but some like Olorotitan, were still thriving in Asia.

Paleoecology

Olorotitan existed during the Late Cretaceous period, around 66 million years ago. The Udurchukan Formation and the overlying Yuliangze Formation on the Chinese bank of the Amur River were rich in hadrosaur fossils. The most complete after Olorotitan is Charonosaurus, which closely resembled Parasaurolophus. Other hadrosaur genera found here include Kerberosaurus, Amurosaurus, and Kundurosaurus. The main predator of this area was Tarbosaurus, a close relative of the infamous Tyrannosaurus. A variety of other dinosaur fossils have been found, including nodosaurs, dromaeosaurs, ornithomimids, and titanosaur sauropods. However, none are currently assigned to any genera. The climate of the region was warm and swampy, with a large variety of turtles, early mammals and crocodiles also being found here. Based on the proximity of known fossils to remains from turtles and crocodilians, Olorotitan probably lived in woodland and swamp areas.

Available genomes

Fossil icon Dig site Quality Number available
Hadrosaurfossilicon
Udurchukan Formation
★★
★★★
4
8
7

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