2.69" Hadrosaur Ungual (Judith River)

Size: 2.69" with restoration, 2.55" without 

The restoration is to the very tip, the other white area is sunbleaching were it was sticking iut of the ground.

Species: Hadrosauridae indet.

Age: late cretaceous- 75.3-79 MYA

Location Found: Judith River Formation, Northern Montana, USA 

A fossil ungual is the most distal (farthest from the body) bone in a digit (finger or toe). It serves as the bony core that supports a claw, hoof, or nail in terrestrial vertebrates, including dinosaurs, mammals, and birds.

Hadrosaurs, or duck-billed dinosaurs, were a diverse group of large, herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that thrived during the Late Cretaceous Period, known for their broad, duck-like beaks and complex, tooth-battery chewing mechanisms. Often living in herds, they were dominant herbivores across North America, Asia, and Europe, ranging from 30 to over 50 feet in length

 At Stones & Bones, we do our very best to properly identify every fossil we offer. Nevertheless, paleontology is an evolving science, and isolated specimens can sometimes be difficult to assign with certainty. Our identifications reflect our honest and informed opinion, but alternative interpretations are always possible as new research emerges.