The generic name derives from a combination of the Augustyn family, who helped support the Los Angeles County Museum, and the suffix "-lophus," meaning crest, a reference to its relativeSaurolophus. The specific name refers to palaeontologist William Morris.[3] It was originally described as a species ofSaurolophus,S. morrisi.[4][5] However, when a more in-depth study took place, the end results revealed that its cranial structure was vastly different when it was juxtaposed with the other known members of the tribeSaurolophini, most notablySaurolophus osborni[6][7][8] andSaurolophus angustirostris[9][10] andProsaurolophus maximus[11] and therefore, it was determined to be a separate genus.
All known specimens ofAugustynolophus have been found only in California, which was a part ofLaramidia, among the best locations for dinosaur fossils.[12] There are currently two known specimens ofAugustynolophus. Theholotype,LACM/CIT 2852, was unearthed in 1943. It consisted of the majority of the skull (including thedentary andpredentary), vertebrae, and bones of the limb and hand. The second specimen was designated LACM/CIT 2760. Discovered in 1939, it was made up of elements of the skull and limbs. Due to its smaller size, it may have been a juvenile.[5][13] It is one of three named dinosaurs from the western coast of the United States, the other two being theCampanianAletopelta coombsi,[14] and the sea birdIchthyornis.[15] Additionally there are a number of fragmentary remains which have been found of dinosaurs in all of the western coastal states, California, Oregon, and Washington. In addition to atyrannosaur from Sucia Island of Washington,[16][17] fragmentary remains of indeterminate hadrosaurs and ornithopods have been found throughout California as far back as the 1930s and more recently Oregon as well.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] In September 2017,Augustynolophus was declared the official state dinosaur ofCalifornia.[27]
Augustynolophus was a large hadrosaur, reaching 8 metres (26 ft) in length and 3 metric tons (3.3 short tons) in body mass.[28] Like all species of hadrosaur,Augustynolophus morrisi was a herbivorous dinosaur which had a diet consisting of the plant life in the area, it was specialized to chew its food since hadrosaurs were one of the few known species of dinosaur that chewed its food.[29]
Very is little is known about the fauna found in the coastal states of Laramida,[30] which is a stark similarity to the neighboring island continent ofAppalachia which was on the opposite side of theWestern Interior Seaway. The western United States has a rich history of rich fossil finds, most notable examples include theHell Creek Formation and theTwo Medicine Formation.[31] However, like with Appalachia, the land fauna of western Laramidia, most notably the dinosaurs, is not well studied and are not well known.
However, despite the fact that dinosaur fossils are rare in California, theMoreno Formation is one of the more well studied Mesozoic geological formations in California and like Appalachia, it is more well known for the large amount of marine fossils.[32][33][34][35][36]Augustynolophus shared its environment with a wide variety of marine creatures which consisted of non-marine turtles, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs and ray-finned fish.[37] The turtles that lived in this region includedBasilemys andOsteopygis.[38] Mosasaurs were very common in this region and 4 species have been unearthed from this fossil formation. They includePrognathodon,Halisaurus,Plesiotylosaurus, andPlotosaurus.[39] Plesiosaurs that inhabited the Moreno Formation consisted of 4 genera:Frensosaurus,Morenosaurus,Aphrosaurus, andHydrotherosaurus.[40][41][21]Bonnerichthys andSaurodon were the only ray-finned fish found here.[42] Indeterminate hadrosaur fossils are common in California too.[43][44][45][46]
^Sues, H.D.; Bell, P.R.; Evans, D.C. (2010). "Revision of the status of Saurolophus (Hadrosauridae) from California, USA".Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences.47 (11):1417–1426.Bibcode:2010CaJES..47.1417S.doi:10.1139/e10-062.
^Lehman, T.M. (1987). "Late Maastrichtian paleoenvironments and dinosaur biogeography in the western interior of North America".Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.60:189–217.Bibcode:1987PPP....60..189L.doi:10.1016/0031-0182(87)90032-0.
^Prieto-Márquez, Albert; Wagner, Jonathan R.; Bell, Phil R.; Chiappe, Luis M. (2014). "The late-surviving 'duck-billed' dinosaurAugustynolophus from the upper Maastrichtian of western North America and crest evolution in Saurolophini".Geological Magazine.152 (2):225–241.Bibcode:2015GeoM..152..225P.doi:10.1017/S0016756814000284.S2CID131049979.
^Morris, W.J. (1982). "California dinosaurs". In Bottjer, DJ; Colburn, IP; Cooper, JD (eds.).Late Cretaceous Depositional Environments and Paleogeography, Santa Ana Mountains, Southern California. Los Angeles: Pacific Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists.
^Brown, B. (1912). "A crested dinosaur from the Edmonton Cretaceous". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History:131–136.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^Brown, B. (1913). "The skeleton ofSaurolophus, a crestedduck-billed dinosaur from the Edmonton Cretaceous".Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.32:387–393.
^Strommer, Kristin (July 14, 2021). "UO-led team uncovers new pieces of Oregon's dinosaur puzzle".University of Oregon. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
^Taylor, David G.; Lucas, Spencer G. (2018). "A Late Cretaceous (Campanian) hadrosaur sacrum from the Cape Sebastian Sandstone, Curry County, Oregon".New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.79: 695–702.
^Ford, K.W. (2006). "Stratigraphic positions of marine reptile and dinosaur specimens in the Moreno Formation, in the Tumey Hills and Panoche Hills, Fresno County, California".New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin.35:407–410.
^Popenoe, W.P. (1973). "Southern California Cretaceous formations and faunas with especial reference to the Simi Hills and Santa Monica Mountains".Cretaceous Stratigraphy of the Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills, Southern California. Pacific Section, SEPM, Geological Guidebook, Los Angeles, California:15–20.
^Reeside, J.B. (1957). "Paleoecology of the Cretaceous seas of the Western Interior of the United States".Geological Society of America Memoirs.67:505–542.doi:10.1130/MEM67V2-p505.
