Olorotitan

Filed under Cretaceous dinosaurs · Types of Dinosaurs editorial team

Order: Ornithischia · Suborder: Ornithopoda · Infraorder: Hadrosauridae · Family: Hadrosauridae

Olorotitan, whose name means "gigantic swan," was a large herbivorous dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now far eastern Russia. Reaching an estimated length of around 26 feet (8 meters), it belonged to the family Hadrosauridae — the duck-billed dinosaurs — and more specifically to the crested lambeosaurine branch of that group. Its remains are among the most complete dinosaur skeletons ever recovered in Russia, making it a significant specimen for paleontologists studying Asian hadrosaurs.

The most striking feature of Olorotitan was the tall, fan- or hatchet-shaped hollow crest that rose from the top of its skull, a structure thought to have served purposes of visual display and possibly the production of resonant calls. The animal also possessed an unusually long neck relative to other lambeosaurines — a characteristic that may have contributed to its swan-inspired name. Like other hadrosaurs, it was capable of moving on either two or four legs and processed plant material using batteries of tightly packed grinding teeth.

Olorotitan has added meaningfully to scientific understanding of hadrosaur diversity across Asia, demonstrating that the lambeosaurine lineage extended well into the far eastern reaches of the continent during the Late Cretaceous.

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Reference background: Natural History Museum, London — Dinosaurs; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Dinosaurs; American Museum of Natural History — Dinosaurs & Fossils. Figures are typical published ranges; taxonomy follows the source era and modern consensus is noted where it differs. See our sources & fact-check policy.

Related dinosaurs

Other dinosaurs from the Hadrosauridae family.