Hypacrosaurus Dinosaur Collection
Hypacrosaurus means ‘near the highest lizard’, and in this context, the ‘lizard’ was actually the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus, one of the largest dinosaurs in the ecosystems of late Cretaceous North America, but only about a third larger than Hypacrosaurus in the largest individuals (twelve meters for large individual Tyrannosaurus compared to nine meters for Hypacrosaurus). Interestingly Hypacrosaurus and other dinosaurs like it may have actually been prey to Tyrannosaurus and other related genera such as Albertosaurus. Evidence for this comes from a huge bite wound inflicted on the back of an Edmontosaurus that closely matches the shape of a Tyrannosaurus mouth. Because the bones in the wound actually healed afterwards this proves that the Edmontosaurus in question was alive when it happened, and not a case of a tyrannosaur simply scavenging an existing carcass.