Superduck dino offers insight:

Discovery

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Horner

In a warm, lush environment near a meandering river 79.5 million years ago in Montana, a dinosaur nicknamed “Superduck” munched on leaves and kept a lookout for predators related to Tyrannosaurus rex that might threaten its herd.

Scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of fossils of the dinosaur they named Probrachylophosaurus bergei that was about 30 feet (9 meters) long, weighed more than 5 tons and donned a small, triangular bony crest atop its skull.

It was a member of a plant-eating group called duck-billed dinosaurs, known for beaks resembling a duck’s bill, common during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period.

Many duck-billed dinosaurs boasted head crests of various shapes and sizes. Probrachylophosaurus, one of the earliest with a prominent crest, offers insight into the evolution of these features, the researchers said.

Its skull bones are very similar to those of Acristavus, a duck-billed dinosaur from about 81 million years ago thought to be its ancestor, and Brachylophosaurus, which lived about 78 million years ago and is thought to be its descendant.

“Acristavus does not have a crest. The top of its skull is flat. Brachylophosaurus