biology

Tlatolophus

Tlatolophus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tlatolophus rather than just read about it. In short: Tlatolophus (meaning "word crest") is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur belonging to the tribe Parasaurolophini that lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mexico. The only species is the type species, Tlatolophus galorum.

Key takeaways

Tlatolophus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tlatolophus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tlatolophus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tlatolophus (meaning "word crest") is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur belonging to the tribe Parasaurolophini that lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mexico. The only species is the type species, Tlatolophus galorum.

Discovery and naming

The holotype, specimen CIC/P/147, was first discovered as a semi-articulated tail in 2005 in sediments of the Cerro del Pueblo Formation in Coahuila, Mexico. In 2013, the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History and the National Autonomous University of Mexico launched a joint project to recover it. The holotype represents most complete lambeosaurine known from Mexico with an almost complete skull, jaws, and additional parts of the postcranial skeleton including an articulated tail. It was named as the new genus and species Tlatolophus galorum in 2021. The generic name comes from the Náhuatl word tlatolli, meaning "word", combined with Greek lophos ("crest") due to the crest's resemblance to the glyph "word" in Aztec iconography, resembling an inverse comma. The species is named after the Garza and López families for their collaboration in collecting and preserving the specimen.

Description

The holotype specimen of Tlatolophus, CIC/P/147, represents a large individual, around 8 metres (26 ft) in length and weighing nearly 3 metric tons (3.3 short tons). It preserves an almost complete skull, complete with lower jaws. CIC/P/147 only lacks the surangular and quadrate bones. Tlatolophus's skull is relatively tall. Its premaxilla contacts the nasal, but only along the nasal process. The jugal orbital margins are wider than the infratemporal margin. The frontal platform is present, being dorsocaudally extended and overhanging the parietals. The nasal cavity occupies the structure's entirety, including the caudal end of the supracranial crest which is comma-shaped, hence the binomial name. The pterygoid bone possesses a high and convex dorsal crest. CIC/P/147 also preserves partial postcranial elements. The scapular neck is relatively stout, and the iliac postacetabular process is long. The ischium possesses a large ischial foot, and its tip is cranioventrally projected. A partial, articulated tail is also preserved, the first remains to be discovered of this taxon.

Classification Tlatolophus was assigned to the tribe Parasaurolophini by Ramírez-Velasco et al. in 2021. The cladogram below displays the results of their phylogenetic analysis:

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tlatolophus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tlatolophus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tlatolophus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tlatolophus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tlatolophus

In research: Tlatolophus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tlatolophus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tlatolophus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Campanian dinosaurs, Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of Mexico, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tlatolophus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tlatolophus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tlatolophus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tlatolophus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tlatolophus in simple terms?

Why does Tlatolophus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tlatolophus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tlatolophus.