#ajnabia

[local-pillbug]

monochromatic study of two ajnabia hadrosaurs enjoying some berries :) sources used and their original authors are under the cut!

by cisiopurple on deviantart

by olofmolemen on deviantart

[princefluph]

Alright yall have twisted my arm heres pages 6,7,8, and 9 (but trust me theres still more lol Ive got near upwards of 200 designs so far)

[nerdasaurus1200]

Apparently there’s a dinosaur named after Odysseus 🤣

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Ajnabia vs Tlatolophus

Ajnabia (left) or Tlatolophus (right)?

Ajnabia

Tlatolophus

Voting ended onMar 9, 2023

Factfiles:

Ajnabia odysseus

Artwork by @i-draws-dinosaurs, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Great Seafarer Stranger 

Time: 68 to 66 million years ago (Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous) 

Location: Upper member of the Couche III Formation, Ouled Abdoun Basin, north-central Morocco 

Ajnabia is an extremely small (possibly the smallest) hadrosaur, specifically a European lambeosaurine. Finding one in Morocco was a legitimate surprise discovery, since northern Africa was fully separated from Europe by ocean at the time. Known from parts of the jaw, most of what we know about it is inferred from its probable close relatives, the North African-European Maastrichtian hadrosaurs - though the crests of these animals are not well known, it is presumable they for the group would have been hollow and shaped in different ways to produce different sounds based on species, including Ajnabia. As in other hadrosaurs, it would have been robust, with long robust and stiff tails, muscular hind limbs with three toed feet, and strong slender forelimbs ending in weird hoof-like structures. They also had rows and rows of densely packed teeth built for grinding through a variety of vegetation. It probably got from Eurasia to Africa via oceanic dispersal, possibly even swimming from one landmass to another. At less than four meters long, it would have been dwarfed by its newfound neighbors, large dinosaurs such as the abelisaurid Chenanisaurus, and a yet-unnamed titanosaur. There were also, of course, azhdarchids in the form of Phosphatodraco and pteranodontid Tethydraco, and three separate types of Nyctosaurids - Alcione, Simurghia, and Barbaridactylus (you may recognize this lineup from a certain paleo doc). On the ocean side of things, mosasaurs, elasmosaurs, sharks, fish, and other marine life filled the seas to the brim, making it even more of a wonder that Ajnabia got over to Morocco safely! 

Tlatolophus galorum

Artwork by Joaquin Eng Ponce, written by @zygodactylus

Artwork by Joaquin Eng Ponce, written by Meig 

Name Meaning: Gazra and López’s Word Crest 

Time: 73 million years ago (Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous) 

Location: Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Coahuila, Mexico 

Tlatolophus was a Lambeosaur - so another crested hadrosaur - from Mexico, a place that we don’t talk about the fossils of nearly enough! The most complete Lambeosaur known from Mexico, the skull and large portions of the skeleton are known, including the tail. At about 8 meters long, Tlatolophus had a tall skull and thick tail, and the usual hooved front feet of hadrosaurs. Its crest was long, low, and angled backwards, much like the glyph for “word” in Aztec writings - hence its name! Given the unique shape, it probably made a unique sound, different from other hadrosaurs. Interestingly, it actually seems to have been closely related to Parasaurolophus and its relatives, making it another member of the Parasaurolophini group! As a hadrosaur, it would have been a social animal, with behaviors such as communal nature and communication. The Cerro del Pueblo formation was a coastal ecosystem, filled with a variety of unnamed dinosaurs, but also Coahuilaceratops, Kritosaurus, Latirhinus, Velafrons, Paraxenisaurus (the first potential Deinocheirid from North America), as well as pterosaurs, turtles, fish, and multituberculate mammals. 

DMM Round One Masterpost

[misterrogers22]

From "Dinosaurs Lately Ep 8 - Hadrosauroids" [podcast]

Episode 8 - Hadrosauroids (Winter 2026)

Thanks for tuning into the  Dinosaurs Lately podcast , the dinosaur podcast that features periodic updates recapping the latest news on the

A new hadrosaurid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco provides evidence for an African radiation of lambeosaurines Longrich, N.R., et al. (2025). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2025.05.006

First occurrence of the duck-billed dinosaur tribe Lambeosaurini (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) in South China. Wang, D. et al., (2025). doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2454652

The first discovery of Stromatoolithus pinglingensis in the Ganzhou Basin and a revision of Paraspheroolithus porcarboris." Historical Biology Qiu, W., et al., (2025) doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2581783

Edmontosaurus from the Rocky Mountain foothills, Alberta, and its chronostratigraphic position in the Late Cretaceous Brazeau Formation and correlative units in western Canada. van der Reest, A.J., et al. (2025). doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2023-0001

Duck-billed dinosaur fleshy midline and hooves reveal terrestrial clay-template 'mummification' Sereno, P.C., et al., (2025). DOI: 10.1126/science.adw3536 DiPiazzo, Christopher (November 2025). Edmontosaurus: Beast of the Week. In Prehistoric Beast of the Week [blog]. Accessed Jan. 25, 2026. https://prehistoricbeastoftheweek.blogspot.com/2013/08/anatotitan-prehistoric-animal-of-week.html

Re-evaluation of a soft crested Edmontosaurin, with implications for hadrosaurid life appearance and diversity. Sharpe, H.S., et al., (2025). doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.70098

A continued thank you to Kristoph Ochs of Snale! Check out his incredible albums on @Spotify and @Bandcamp. 3rd album toynbee is super catchy. Lots of fun new tracks to get stuck in your head!

Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6PcBzJDKyfS0dLqdGmgWrt