| Pachycephalosaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous |
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Skull of Pachycephalosaurus at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a Museum displaying many of the University of Oxford's
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Pachycephalosaurus (pronounced /ˌpækiˌsɛfələˈsɔrəs/, meaning "thick headed lizard", from Greek pachy-/παχυ- "thick", cephale/κεφαλη "head" and saurus/σαυρος "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur. Charles Whitney Gilmore (1874-1945 was an American paleontologist, who named Dinosaurs in North America and Mongolia, including the Troodon (or Troödon in older sources is a Genus of relatively small Bird -like Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous In biology a type is that which fixes a name to a Taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question a type may be a specimen In Scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different Scientific names used for a single Taxon. Joseph Leidy ( September 9 1823 &ndash 30 April 1891) was an American Paleontologist. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic Pachycephalosauria (ˌpækɨˌsɛfələˈsɔriə Greek for 'thick headed lizards' is a Clade of Ornithischian Dinosaurs Well-known genera It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now North America. The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of The Maastrichtian is the last stage of the Cretaceous period, and therefore of the Mesozoic era. Remains have been excavated in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. It was an herbivorous or omnivorous creature which is only known from a single skull and a few extremely thick skull roofs. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell Omnivores (from Latin omne all everything vorare to devour are species that eat both Plants and Animals as their primary This dinosaur is monotypic, meaning the type species, P. Monotypic is an adjective that refers to a taxonomic group with only one type: In Botany, "monotypic" means that a Taxon has only In Taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus. wyomingensis, is the only known species. Pachycephalosaurus was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs before the K–T extinction event. The Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, which occurred approximately ( Ma) was a large-scale mass extinction of animal and plant species in a geologically Another dinosaur, Tylosteus of western North America, has been synonymized with Pachycephalosaurus. In Scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different Scientific names used for a single Taxon.
Like other pachycephalosaurids, Pachycephalosaurus was a bipedal omnivore with an extremely thick skull roof. Bipedalism is a form of Terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs Omnivores (from Latin omne all everything vorare to devour are species that eat both Plants and Animals as their primary It possessed long hindlimbs and small forelimbs. Pachycephalosaurus is the largest known pachycephalosaur, measuring nearly 4. 5–5 meters (15 –16 ft) in length and up to 2000 kilograms (4400 lb) in weight. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The pound or pound-mass (abbreviation lb, lbm, or sometimes in the United States #) is a unit of Mass
The thick skull domes of Pachycephalosaurus and related genera gave rise to the theory that pachycephalosaurs used their skulls in intraspecific combat. This theory has been discredited in recent years.
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The anatomy of Pachycephalosaurus is poorly known, as only skull remains have been described. [1] Pachycephalosaurus is famous for having a large, bony dome atop its skull, up to 25 cm (10 in) thick, which safely cushioned its tiny brain. The dome's rear aspect was edged with bony knobs and short bony spikes projected upwards from the snout. The spikes were probably blunt, not sharp. [2]
The skull was short, and possessed large, rounded eye sockets that faced forward, suggesting that the animal had good vision and was capable of binocular vision. Binocular vision is vision in which both Eyes are used together Pachycephalosaurus had a small muzzle which ended in a pointed beak. The teeth were tiny, with leaf-shaped crowns. The head was supported by an "S"- or "U"-shaped neck. [2]
Pachycephalosaurus was probably bipedal and was the largest of the pachycephalosaurid (bone-headed) dinosaurs. Bipedalism is a form of Terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs Using data from other pachycephalosaurids, it has been estimated that Pachycephalosaurus was approximately the length of a large car, perhaps around 4. 6 meters (15 ft) long,[3] and had a fairly short, thick neck, short fore limbs, a bulky body, long hind legs and a heavy tail, which was likely held rigid by ossified tendons. Ossification is the process of Bone formation in which connective tissues such as Cartilage are turned to bone or bone-like tissue A tendon (or sinew) is a tough band of Fibrous connective tissue that usually connects Muscle to Bone and is capable of withstanding tension [4]
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Pachycephalosaurus gives its name to the Pachycephalosauria, a clade of herbivorous ornithischian ("bird hipped") dinosaurs which lived during the Late Cretaceous Period in North America and Asia. Pachycephalosauria (ˌpækɨˌsɛfələˈsɔriə Greek for 'thick headed lizards' is a Clade of Ornithischian Dinosaurs Well-known genera A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell Ornithischia (ɔrnɪˈθɪskiə) or Predentata is an extinct order of beaked herbivorous Dinosaurs The name ornithischia Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white Chalk cliffs of southern England Despite their bipedal stance, they were likely more closely related to the ceratopsians than the ornithopods. Ceratopsia or Ceratopia (ˌsɛrəˈtɒpsiə/ /ˌsɛrəˈtoʊpiə Greek: "horned faces" is a group of herbivorous, beaked Dinosaurs Ornithopods (ɔrˈnɪθoʊpɒd are a group of bird-hipped Dinosaurs that started out as small Bipedal running grazers and grew in size and [6]
Pachycephalosaurus is the most famous member of the Pachycephalosauria (though not the best-preserved member). The clade also includes Stenopelix, Wannanosaurus, Yaverlandia, Goyocephale, Stegoceras, Homalocephale, Tylocephale, Sphaerotholus and Prenocephale. Stenopelix (meaning "narrow Pelvis " was a Genus of small Ornithischian Dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Wannanosaurus (meaning "Wannano lizard" named after the location where it was discovered is a Genus of basal Pachycephalosaurian Yaverlandia is a Genus of Theropod Dinosaur. Known from a partial fossil Skull found in Lower Cretaceous strata on the Goyocephale was a Genus of Pachycephalosaurid Dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period Stegoceras ('horned roof' - Greek stego-/στεγο- meaning 'roof' and ceras/κέρας meaning 'horn' was a Homalocephale (from Greek ωμαλος homalos, "even" and κεφαλή kephalē, "head" is a genus of Dinosaur Tylocephale (meaning "swollen head" from the Greek τυλη meaning 'callus' or 'hard swelling' and κεφαλη Sphaerotholus (Wiiliamson and Carr 2002 is a Genus of Pachycephalosaurid Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of the western Prenocephale was a small Pachycephalosaurid Dinosaur Genus from the Late Cretaceous (from the Campanian through to Within the tribe Pachycephalosaurini, Pachycephalosaurus is most closely related to Dracorex and Stygimoloch, although these may be juvenile forms of Pachycephalosaurus. Dracorex is a Dinosaur Genus of the family Pachycephalosauridae from the Late Cretaceous of North America Stygimoloch (meaning "horned devil from the river of death" is a Genus of Pachycephalosaurid Dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous [7]
Remains attributable to Pachycephalosaurus may have been found as early as the 1850s. As determined by Donald Baird, in 1859 or 1860 Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden, an early fossil collector in the North American West, collected a bone fragment in the vicinity of the head of the Missouri River, from what is now known to be the Lance Formation in southeastern Montana. Dr Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden ( September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American Geologist noted for his pioneering The Lance (Creek Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous rocks in the western United States [8] This specimen, now ANSP 8568, was described by Joseph Leidy in 1872 as belonging to the dermal armor of a reptile or an armadillo-like animal. The Academy of Natural Sciences is the oldest Natural science research institution and museum in the United States Joseph Leidy ( September 9 1823 &ndash 30 April 1891) was an American Paleontologist. Armor (or armour) in animals is external or superficial protection against attack by predators formed as part of the body (rather than the behavioural use of protective external Armadillos are small Placental Mammals known for having a leathery armor shell [9] Its actual nature was not found until Baird restudied it over a century later and identified it as a squamosal (bone from the back of the skull) of Pachycephalosaurus, including a set of bony knobs corresponding to those found on other specimens of Pachycephalosaurus. The squamosal is a bone of the head of higher Vertebrates It is the principal component of the cheek region in the skull lying below the temporal series and [8] Because the name Tylosteus predates Pachycephalosaurus, according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature it should be preferred. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a set of rules in Zoology that have one fundamental aim to provide the maximum universality and continuity in the naming Baird successfully petitioned to have Pachycephalosaurus used instead of older Tylosteus because the latter name had not been used for over fifty years, was based on undiagnostic materials, and had poor geographic and stratigraphic information. Stratigraphy, a branch of Geology, studies rock layers and layering ( stratification) [10] This may not be the end of the story; Robert Sullivan suggested in 2006 that ANSP 8568 is more like the corresponding bone of Dracorex than that of Pachycephalosaurus. Dracorex is a Dinosaur Genus of the family Pachycephalosauridae from the Late Cretaceous of North America [1] The issue is of uncertain importance, though, if Dracorex actually represents a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, as has been recently proposed. [7]
P. wyomingensis, the type and currently only valid species of Pachycephalosaurus, was named by Charles W. Gilmore in 1931. In Taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus. Charles Whitney Gilmore (1874-1945 was an American paleontologist, who named Dinosaurs in North America and Mongolia, including the He coined it for the partial skull USNM 12031, from the Lance Formation of Niobrara County, Wyoming. The National Museum of Natural History is a Natural history Museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Niobrara County is a County located in the US state of Wyoming. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. Gilmore assigned his new species to Troodon as T. Troodon (or Troödon in older sources is a Genus of relatively small Bird -like Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous wyomingensis. [11] At the time, paleontologists thought that Troodon, then known only from teeth, was the same as Stegoceras, which had similar teeth. Stegoceras ('horned roof' - Greek stego-/στεγο- meaning 'roof' and ceras/κέρας meaning 'horn' was a Accordingly, what are now known as pachycephalosaurids were assigned to the family Troodontidae, a misconception not corrected until 1945, by Charles M. Sternberg. Troodontidae is a family of Bird -like theropod Dinosaurs In previous decades troodontid fossils were few and scrappy and they have therefore Charles Mortram Sternberg ( 1885 &ndash 1981) was an American-Canadian Fossil collector and paleontologist, son of Charles Hazelius Sternberg [12]
In 1943, Barnum Brown and Erich Maren Schlaikjer, with newer, more complete material, established the genus Pachycephalosaurus and made "T. Barnum Brown ( February 12, 1873 - 1963) born February 12 1873 in Carbondale Kansas. Erich Maren Schlaikjer ( November 22, 1905 in Newtown Ohio – November 5, 1972) was an American Geologist and Dinosaur wyomingensis" its type species. They also named two more species: Pachycephalosaurus grangeri and Pachycephalosaurus reinheimeri. P. grangeri was based on AMNH 1696, a nearly complete skull from the Hell Creek Formation of Ekalaka, Carter County, Montana. A holotype is one of several possible Biological types A type is what fixes a name to a Taxon. The American Museum of Natural History ( AMNH) located on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA is one of the largest and most The Hell Creek Formation is an intensely-studied division of Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleocene rocks in North America named for exposures studied along Hell Ekalaka is a town in and the County seat of Carter County, Montana, United States. Carter County is a County located in the US state of Montana. P. reinheimeri was based on what is now DMNH 469, a dome and a few associated elements from the Lance Formation of Corson County, South Dakota. The Denver Museum Of Nature and Science (DMNS is the main natural history museum in Denver, Colorado. Corson County is a County located in the US state of South Dakota. [13] These later two species have been considered synonymous with P. wyomingensis since 1983. [14]
At the 2007 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Jack Horner of Montana State University presented evidence that Dracorex and Stygimoloch may be juvenile forms of Pachycephalosaurus. John "Jack" R Horner (born June 15, 1946) is an American paleontologist who discovered and named Maiasaura Montana State University - Bozeman (MSU is a Public university located in Bozeman Montana, U [7]
Nearly all Pachycephalosaurus fossils have been recovered from the Lance Formation and Hell Creek Formation of the western United States. The Lance (Creek Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous rocks in the western United States The Hell Creek Formation is an intensely-studied division of Upper Cretaceous to lower Paleocene rocks in North America named for exposures studied along Hell [1] Pachycephalosaurus co-existed alongside fellow pachycephalosaurs Dracorex and Stygimoloch. Stygimoloch (meaning "horned devil from the river of death" is a Genus of Pachycephalosaurid Dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous [15] Other dinosaurs that shared its time and place include Bugenasaura, the hadrosaurids Edmontosaurus and Anatotitan, ceratopsids Triceratops and Torosaurus, ankylosaurid Ankylosaurus, and the theropods Ornithomimus, Dromaeosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus. Bugenasaura (meaning "large-cheeked lizard" was a Genus of Hypsilophodont Dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian -age Hadrosaurids or duck-billed Dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include Ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus Edmontosaurus (ɛdˌmɒntəˈsɔrəs ed-MON-toh-SAWR-us meaning "Edmonton lizard" (after where it was found and Greek sauros meaning lizard Anatotitan (əˌnætoʊˈtaɪtən a-NAT-o-TIE-tan "large duck" is a Genus of flat-headed or hadrosaurine Hadrosaurid Ornithopod Ceratopsidae (sometimes spelled Ceratopidae) is a speciose group of Marginocephalian Dinosaurs including Triceratops and Styracosaurus Triceratops (traɪˈsɛrətɒps is an extinct Genus of herbivorous ceratopsid Dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian Torosaurus (meaning "perforated lizard" was a Genus of ceratopsid Dinosaur. An ankylosaurid is a member of the Ankylosauridae family of armored dinosaurs that evolved 125 Million years ago (along with another family of Ankylosaurus (ˌæŋkɪloʊˈsɔrəs which means ' rigid lizard' is a Genus of Ankylosaurid Dinosaur, containing one Species Theropods (ˈθɪərəpɒd theropoda /θiːˈrɒpədə/ 'beast feet' are a group of Bipedal Saurischian Dinosaurs Although they were primarily Ornithomimus (ˌɔrnɨθoʊˈmaɪməs meaning 'bird mimic' is a Genus of Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is Dromaeosaurus (ˌdrɒmioʊˈsɔrəs was a Genus of Theropod Dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period ( Campanian Tyrannosaurus ( or, meaning 'tyrant lizard' is a Genus of Theropod Dinosaur. [16]
Scientists once suspected that Pachycephalosaurus and its relatives were the bipedal equivalents of bighorn sheep or musk oxen; that male individuals would ram each other headlong. Bighorn Sheep ( Ovis canadensis) is a species of sheep in North America and Siberia with large horns which can weigh up to. The muskox ( Ovibos moschatus) is an Arctic Mammal of the Bovidae family noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males It was also believed that they would make their head, neck, and body horizontally straight, in order to transmit stress during ramming. However, it is now believed that the pachycephalosaurs would not have used their domes in this way.
Foremost, the skull roof could not have adequately sustained impact associated with such ramming. Also, there is no evidence of scars or other damage on fossilized Pachycephalosaurus skulls. [17] Furthermore, the cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae show that the neck was carried in an "S"- or "U"-shaped curve, rather than a straight orientation, and thus unfit for direct head-butting. Lastly, the rounded shape of the skull would lessen the contacted surface area during head-butting, resulting in glancing blows. [2]
It is more probable that the Pachycephalosaurus and other pachycephalosaurid genera engaged in flank-butting in intraspecific combat. In this scenario, an individual may have stood roughly parallel or faced a rival directly, using intimidation displays to cow its rival. If intimidation failed, the Pachycephalosaurus would bend its head downward and to the side, striking the rival pachycephalosaur on its flank. This hypothesis is supported by the relatively broad width of most pachycephalosaurs, a trait that would have protected vital organs from harm. The flank-butting theory was first proposed by Sues in 1978, and expanded upon by Ken Carpenter in 1997. Kenneth Carpenter (born September 21, 1949 in Tokyo, Japan is a Paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Natural History and author [2]
Scientists do not yet know what these dinosaurs ate. Having very small, ridged teeth they could not have chewed tough, fibrous plants as effectively as other dinosaurs of the same period. It is assumed that pachycephalosaurs lived on a mixed diet of leaves, seeds, fruit and insects. The sharp, serrated teeth would have been very effective for shredding plants. [18]