Parasaurolophus Reconstructions
Paleontogical reconstructions evolve over time.
This is an image I got from Twitter sometime pre-2022, showing how reconstructions of Parasaurolophus have changed as we gained more knowledge.
This matches with my personal collection of plastic dinosaur reconstructions of hadrosaurs, and in particular, Parasaurolophus.
Not a Parasaurolophus, but a Trachodon, which I got in a box of “Puffed Rice” or “Puffed Wheat” breakfast cereal before 1966. I really didn’t like “Puffed Wheat”, and I only tolerated “Puffed Rice”, but since they had plastic dinosaurs, I was all in.
Incidentally, this is maybe the second oldest piece of personal property that I own. The only thing I may have owned for a longer time is small magnet.
The Marx trachodon is clearly modeled after this image:
The image is from The Giant Golden Book of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles, by Jane Werner Watson, illustrated by Rudolph F. Zallinger, Golden Press, New York, Western Publishing Company, Inc., Copyright 1960, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 60-14884.
Just like in his disturbing Oviraptor reconstructions, Zallinger leaves out some pelvic bones, leading to weird looking hadrosaurs. He seemed to believe that Lambeosaurine crests were diving aids, so altogether strange reconstructions.
Got this Marx parasaurolophus for Christmas sometime between 1974 and 1979. It clearly matches the posture of the 1920 reconstruction. That reconstruction looks very weird to the modern eye as it’s missing some pelvic bones.
Bought this PNSO reconstruction from Amazon in 2021. Fantastic!
Adult Parasaurolophus were not small.
