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par-a-sawr-o-LOAF-us  PARASAUROLOPHUS  [Beside the Lizard With a Crest]
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	The Parasaurolophus belongs to the "duck-billed" family of dinosaurs 
and is best known for the great double-fluted crest at the top of its head.  
Since the first fossil skeleton was unearthed in a New Jersey phosphate 
fertilizer mine in 1850, the environment and habits of the duck-bills have 
been greatly debated.  When a nearly complete "mummified" body of a 
twenty-foot duck-bill was discovered more questions were raised than answered.
	Currently there are two theories about the duck-bill's
habitat and crest.  One idea is that the duck-bill lived near the water and 
fed on soft water plants.  Proponents of this theory point to the webbed hands 
of the "mummified" duck-bill in its glass cage at the American Museum of 
Natural History in New York.  Some people even think that the Parasaurolophus 
used its crest as a snorkel for breathing under water.
	Other paleontologists suggest that the duck-bill's hands and feet were 
not large enough to be effective paddles and point out that the toes were 
short and close together.  Furthermore, they state that the duck-bill's hands 
were plump and round, similar to the modern camel's foot.  They do not believe 
the Parasaurolophus spent its time in water.
	In addition, it is now thought that the Parasaurolophus used its crest
to make a trumpeting sound.  One thing that is certain, however, is that 
Parasaurolophus and the other duck-bills were the main food for the carnivores 
that roamed the Upper Cretaceous Period, 75 million years ago. 
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