This timeline of hadrosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the hadrosauroids, a group of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs popularly known as the duck-billed dinosaurs. Scientific research on hadrosaurs began in the 1850s, when Joseph Leidy described the genera Thespesius and Trachodon based on scrappy fossils discovered in the western United States. Just two years later he published a description of the much better-preserved remains of an animal from New Jersey that he named Hadrosaurus. The early 20th century saw such a boom in hadrosaur discoveries and research that paleontologists' knowledge of these dinosaurs "increased by virtually an order of magnitude" according to a 2004 review by Horner, Weishampel, and Forster. This period is known as the great North American Dinosaur rush because of the research and excavation efforts of paleontologists like Brown, Gilmore, Lambe, Parks, and the Sternbergs. Major discoveries included the variety of cranial ornamentation among hadrosaurs as scientist came to characterize uncrested, solid crested, and hollow crested species. Notable new taxa included Saurolophus, Corythosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and Lambeosaurus. In 1942 Richard Swann Lull and Wright published what Horner, Weishampel, and Forster characterized as the "first important synthesis of hadrosaurid anatomy and phylogeny". More recent discoveries include gigantic hadrosaurs like Shantungosaurus giganteus from China. At 15 meters in length and nearly 16 metric tons in weight it is the largest known hadrosaur and is known from a nearly complete skeleton. Hadrosaur research has continued to remain active even into the new millennium. In 2000, Horner and others found that hatchling Maiasaura grew to adult body sizes at a rate more like a mammal's than a reptile. That same year, Case and others reported the discovery of hadrosaur bones in Vega Island, Antarctica. After decades of such dedicated research, hadrosaurs have become one of the best understood group of dinosaurs.
19th century
1850s
1856 Joseph Leidy described the new genus and species Thespesius occidentalis. He also described the new genus and species Trachodon mirabilis. Although both species were based on poorly preserved material, this paper was the first to be published on hadrosaurid dinosaurs.
1858 Leidy described the new genus and species Hadrosaurus foulkii. He thought it was an amphibious animal.
1860s
1868 Leidy collaborated with artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins to mount Hadrosaurus foulkii for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. This became both the first mounted dinosaur skeleton ever mounted for public display and also one of the most popular exhibits in the history of the academy. Estimates have the Hadrosaurus exhibit as increasing the number of visitors by up to 50%.
1869 Edward Drinker Cope described the new genus and species Hypsibema crassicauda. Cope named the Hadrosauridae. He observed that the primary distinguishing trait of the group was their dental battery. Cope described the new genus and species Ornithotarsus immanis.
1870s
1870 Othniel Charles Marsh described the new species Hadrosaurus minor.
1871 Cope described the new species Hadrosaurus cavatus.
1872 Marsh described the new species Hadrosaurus agilis.
1874 Cope described the new species Agathaumas milo. He also described the new genus and species Cionodon arctatus.
1875 Cope described the new species Cionodon stenopsis.
1876 Cope described the new genus and species Diclonius calamarius. He also described the new species Diclonius pentagonus, Diclonius perangulatus, and Dysganus encaustus.
1880s
1883 Harry Govier Seeley described the new genus and species Orthomerus dolloi. Cope still regarded hadrosaurs as amphibious.
1888 Richard Lydekker described the new species Trachodon cantabrigiensis.
1889 Marsh described the new species Hadrosaurus breviceps. He also described the new species Hadrosaurus paucidens. Cope described the new genus and species Pteropelyx grallipes.
1890s
1890 Marsh erected the new genus Claosaurus to house the species Hadrosaurus agilis. He also described the new species Trachodon longiceps.
1892 Marsh described the new species Claosaurus annectens. Cope described the new genus and species Claorhynchus trihedrus. Newton described the new species Iguanodon hilli.
20th century
1900s
1900 Franz Nopcsa described the new genus and species Limnosaurus transsylvanicus.
1902 Lawrence Lambe described the new genus and species Trachodon altidens; in the same volume, he suggested the name Didanodon for the same species, but the validity of this name has been questioned. He also described the new species Trachodon marginatus. He also described the new species Trachodon selwyni.
1903 Nopcsa erected the new genus Telmatosaurus to house the species Limnosaurus transsylvanicus, as the latter genus name was preoccupied . George Wieland described the new species Claosaurus affinis.
1910
1910 Barnum Brown described the new genus Hecatasaurus. He also described the new genus and species Kritosaurus navajovius.
1912 Brown described the new genus and species Saurolophus osborni.
1913 Brown described the new genus and species Hypacrosaurus altispinus. Cutler excavated a juvenile Gryposaurus now catalogued by the Canadian Museum of Nature as CMN 8784. The site of the excavation has since been designated "quarry 252". Winter: Cutler partly prepared the young Gryposaurus specimen, possibly in Calgary while working on dinosaurs for Euston Sisely.
1914 Brown described the new genus and species Corythosaurus casuarius. Lambe described the new genus and species Gryposaurus notabilis.
1915 Charles H. Sternberg's crew excavated a Corythosaurus from quarry 243 in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. The specimen would later be displayed at the Calgary Zoo. Matthew observed that fossils of hadrosaur eggs and hatchlings were absent in coastal areas and suggested that hadrosaurs may have preferred nesting grounds further inland. He believed that these inland nesting grounds were actually where hadrosaurs first evolved and therefore to breed, hadrosaurs retraced their ancestors route back to their place of origin. After hatching, the young hadrosaurs would spend some time inland maturing before migrating out to more coastal areas.
1916 Brown described the new genus and species Prosaurolophus maximus.
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