George is a Lambeosaurus. About 75 million years ago, in what is present-day Alberta, this duck-billed, hooded dinosaur used to wander through the forest on his hind legs, only dropping to all fours to munch on low-lying vegetation. Judging from his square, flat teeth, we know that George was a plant eater. Much like our own molars, George had teeth that were perfect for chewing up plants. However, you’ll notice that Lambeosaurus have no incisors—which is another clue that they were not meat eaters.  You’ll also notice the large bump, or cranial crest, on his head. It’s hollow, and thought to have been used for social functions such as recognition and noisemaking. These Lambeosaurus can grow to be quite large—up to 15 meters in length!

George was found in Alberta 100 years ago (1913) in what we call a bone bed, which is essentially an area of land that has tens to thousands of skeletons all preserved together. Scientists believe that dinosaurs like George died about 65 million years ago during an extinction event that may have been caused in part by a large meteorite impact. Following George’s death, his soft body parts would have decomposed or have eaten by scavengers. What stuck around were the hard parts. Minerals crystalized in the pores of the bone, such that what used to be bone became rock. The rock was then exposed at the Earth’s surface for a lucky paleontologist to discover!

George currently resides in the museum's main gallery on the University of British Columbia's Vancouver campus. He has been here since the 1970s! We are lucky to be his permanent home thanks to Dr. F. J. Alcock, Curator of the National Museum of Canada. Before arriving in Vancouver, George was prepared in Ottawa and then mounted at UBC by Charles M. Sternberg (a famous American-Canadian paleontologist!) thanks to the sponsorship of Dr. H. R. MacMillan.