Parasaur

"Parasaur, because they're basically like real life horses and probably wouldn't be too difficult or costly to keep. Plus cute."

- Jen's chosen animal if ARK is real

The Parasaurolophus (par-ah-SAWR-OL-uh-fus) or Parasaur is one of the Dinosaurs in ARK: Survival Evolved. It is also referred to as "The poor man's " for the fact that it serves the same purpose as an, but can be tamed much earlier in the game. It's a medium sized Hadrosaurid dinosaur that's common throughout the ARKs and inhabits beaches and grasslands, fleeing from the predators that attack it.

Behavior
Parasaurs are one of the passive dinosaurs, and will not fight back even when attacked and when you take one of their eggs. However, the Parasaur is one of the fastest sprinting dinosaurs in the ARK, and can be quite tricky to catch.

Despite the dossier claiming them as a useless tame, if you are not looking for a combat dinosaur they are arguably among the most useful tames in terms of versatility and creative potential, especially for beginners. These animals are extremely sensitive to their environment; Ark’s equivalent of a bloodhound. As such, when placed in “turret mode,” detect and alert the player to any possibly hostile creature/player in the area (Note: this does not include territorial animals such as Therizinosaurus). This allows players to create a fairly large detection network around even the most primitive of bases, although while in turret mode, they are unable to move, making them easy targets, and use up food at a much more rapid pace. It’s also not perfect, alerting to some non-hostiles, including baby animals (which can be useful to a certain extent).

In addition, this detection ability can be manually triggered while riding, making this animal invaluable while exploring new territory, or traveling through dangerous territories that a player might not want to take a more valuable animal through, as they’re fast and nearly impossible to sneak up on if their “ping” used regularly.

Appearance
A large, bipedal dinosaur of the hadrosaurid/duck-billed variety, the Parasaur is well known for its long, arching head crest and duck bill. They most often appear as variations of red, brown, and green, oftentimes with vibrant, red, white, or yellow spines. You can also find them in tan or black but it is very rare. From a distance they can be confused for a Carnotaurus or vice versa, as they’re similar in size, basic shape and movement appearance when passive, so make sure to note head shape, arms, and bulk of the body, particularly around the base of the tail, as the Carnotaurus is more lean.

Tek Parasaur (Variant)
"The most beautiful Tek dino ever. 😍"

- Jen

The Tek Parasaur is a creature that was permanently added to the game in the Extinction Chronicles IV event. It is a unique alternate of the original Parasaur, and is purely made of Tek. Unlike the original, they spawn at a 5% rate, with a 20% higher level than usual.

Drops
Parasaur, Aberrant Parasaur=

Tek Parasaur=

Base Stats and Growth
Parasaur=

Aberrant Parasaur=

KO Strategy
Knocking a Parasaur out is a tough thing to do, as they will run much quicker than humans can, once they are attacked. One of the best strategies is to get the Parasaur stuck between some rocks or trees and merely punch it. Be careful not to damage it once it is knocked out as that affects the taming effectiveness.

There is also another method of knocking out a Parasaur, this method consists of using the bolas on its legs which immobilizes the creature. This leads to the creature being open to punches/slingshots which will eventually knock it out.

Another method is to use multiple players to "pen" the Parasaur into a location it can't escape, leading it towards rocks or structures.

Combat
This section describes how to fight against the Parasaur.

General
Fighting a Parasaur holds no inherent danger, as they will flee upon initiating. The main risk from attempting to kill / KO a Parasaur is that while giving chase, the Parasaur leads the player into hostile territory. Parasaurs will not react if you steal their eggs.

Strategy
The most efficient method is to initiate with a strike to the legs, immobilizing the Parasaur more than long enough to knock it down with a  or spear it to death. Without a, the Parasaur will run away when threatened, often getting itself stuck on rocks or trees, again leaving it vulnerable. A good idea for players without the bola engram is to position yourself away from where you wish to scare the Parasaur into such as a dead end or trees, this can turn a potentially lengthy chase into a quick kill. Quickly volley arrows into it or spears so it cannot get a chance to run in the first place. are good when trying to kill this dino at very little cost. A small pack of three or four will slow the parasaur to a speed the player can get some hits with a spear and kill it before it recovers.

Weaponry
Any weaponry will suffice in taking down a Parasaur, as long as it is used to its highest efficiency. Melee weapons should be used by launching an impromptu attack on the head for greater damage. Ranged weapons can take one down during a chase.

Dangers
The Parasaur may run into more hostile areas when being chased, increasing the risk of aggravating more dangerous dinosaurs. A casual hunting party can be devastated by the appearance of a.

Weakness
Because Parasaurs are able to clip into other dinosaurs, you may find running into them while hunting with a mount causes the Parasaur to lock into place. Otherwise, their relatively low health, fleeing nature and large size make them easy prey for a player of any level.

Roles
"Would be interesting! Right now we encourage the taming of dinos to carry more stuff. Parasaurs are great for this!"

- Jen about backpack suggestion


 * Transport: While not able to carry as many supplies as larger creatures, Parasaurs are a good beginner's pack animal (Level up Weight, Speed, and Stamina).
 * Dino-Clamp/Parasaur Hunter: Because of the Parasaur's small footprint and relatively large hit box it can clip into the hit boxes of other wild Dinos and lock them in place, this is especially true of other Parasaurs. Simply pull up parallel to them and then rotate 90° so that you are heavily clipping into them, this will lock them in place and allow you to easily kill them with your Parasaur. This is an excellent source of very early game meat and hide. It's typically less reliable when locking other types of creatures in place, but still possible, you could for example lock a Trike in place and shoot tranq arrows into its head from a safe distance where it will not swing to damage you or your Parasaur (Level up Health).
 * Early Berry Gathering: While other dinos are more specialized at berry gathering, even a low-level Parasaur can gather dozens of berries in the time it would take a human to gather a handful. Parasaurs can make it much easier for beginning survivors to collect enough Narcoberries to tame a more efficient berry gatherer such as a or ; just be mindful of their narrow hit radius when munching berry plants
 * Living Tripwire: When placed in Turret mode, Parasaur can notify audibly and visually towards nearby threat. If used while ridden, it just visually detects for nearby threat. Enabling consumes food.
 * Peace of Mind: Even for advanced players, Parasaurs set to turret/detection mode can help boost productivity by letting you know if someone or something is stalking you from the bushes while you’re occupied with a task. Rather than having to continually keep an eye out or fall victim to a surprise attack, let them do the worrying and surveying for you!
 * Radar: Due to the Parasaur's unique ability to detect enemies locations when on turret mode (or mounted), they can be used as a radar. This makes them very good for fresh survivors to avoid dangers. Note: this does not tell you what the danger is, only a general location and that there is a general danger. So if you cannot see what the danger is, be weary. It could be anything from a compy to a gigantosaurus. You just don’t know!
 * Phoenix Finder: Due to its enemy detection also works on wild, make it a perfect choice of finding it outside Heatwave weather event.
 * Travel: Parasaurs are a good mount for a starting player, but can be difficult to corner due to their tendency to run away. While much slower than a or, they are faster than . Unlike other options however, the Parasaur is reasonably fast in and underwater; making it a good choice as it can outrun land  based threats and outswim water based threats. With this and low stamina drain, even a reasonably trained Parasaur is capable of diving to underwater caves after some speed and oxygen investment. Consider leveling only speed and some oxygen, with stamina as needed. Their “ping” ability also detects nearby possible enemies. Combined with the fact that they’re relatively expendable, they’re an idea choice for exploration or quick travel through dangerous territory.
 * Bodyguard: A decent level Parasaur is capable of holding their own against most small and some medium sized predators, making them a good bodyguard for beginner players. (Level Health and Damage)
 * Their unique honk ability also allows them to scare away mid sized creatures for safe travel.
 * The following small dinosaurs will flee if within its horn range:

Notes/Trivia

 * The genus name Parasaurolophus means 'near crested lizard', in reference to Saurolophus, which Parasaur was initially believed to be a close relative of.
 * The species name of the Parasaurolophus on the ARK, 'amphibio', is in reference to the species affinity for water, being often found on the coast or near rivers, as well as its proficiency at swimming.
 * Like many hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus is thought to be able to walk on either two or four limbs. The animal would spend most of its time on four limbs, feeding or traveling long distances. When it needed to reach higher to forage or move with speed to escape predators, it would raise up onto its hind limbs. The Parasaurolophus in ARK, however, appears to only walk using its hind limbs.
 * The real life Parasaurolophus seems to be significantly larger than the Parasaur found in ARK. The real life variant also seems to have a bulkier body with a smaller head.
 * Real Parasaurolophus were social dinosaurs that lived in herds, Ark's Parasaur can occasionally be seen together but can also be seen without a herd.
 * The Parasaur got a TLC that gave it the ability to detect creatures.
 * It is the only TLC creature to not get a new model.
 * The Parasaur is one of the only creatures to get a saddle skin the others being the and the.
 * It is one of the few creatures to spawn on all maps, along with Raptor, Equus, Carnotaurus, and Coelacanth. This includes Aberrant varieties.
 * One of the real world Parasaur species is P. walkeri, named in honor of Sir Byron Edmund Walker. This is referenced in the game through the explorer notes left by Helena Walker and Edmund Rockwell.