Pachycephalosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus was a genus of dinosaur which lived during the last five million years of the Upper Cretaceous. It lived in what is now North America.[2]
| Pachycephalosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian),
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Cast of the "Sandy" specimen, Royal Ontario Museum | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Unrecognized taxon (fix): | Pachycephalosaurus |
| Type species | |
| †Troodon wyomingensis Gilmore, 1931
| |
| Species | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
List
| |
This member of the Pachycephalosaurid family is known from a single skull and a few thick skull roofs. From this it is estimated that its length was about 4.5 to 5 metres long (about 15 feet).
Pachycephalosaurus was a herbivore. It lived on a mixed diet of leaves, seeds, and fruit. The sharp, serrated teeth would have been very effective for shredding plants.[3]
Pachycephalosaurus Media
Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis skull (AMNH 1696) on display at the American Museum of Natural History.
The holotype adult skull of P. "reinheimeri" (DMNS 469)
Reconstruction of Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis based on the “Sandy” specimen.
Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis size chart
Several pachycephalosaur relatives discovered from Hell Creek
Casts of three skulls, representing possible growth stages, Museum of the Rockies
Growth series showing reduction of spikes and growth of dome with age, according to Horner and Goodwin
Size of an adult P. wyomingensis (green) and potential growth stages, compared to a human
Paleoart of head-butting subadults
Depressions on the skull of specimen BMRP 2001.4.1
References
- ↑ Giffin, Emily B.; Gabriel, Diane L.; Johnson, Rolf E. (22 January 1988). "A New Pachycephalosaurid Hell Creek Formation of Montana". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 7 (4): 398–407. doi:10.1080/02724634.1988.10011672. JSTOR 4523163. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ↑ Giffin, Emily B; Gabriel, Diane L; Johnson Rolf E. 1988. A new Pachycephalosaurid: Hell Creek Formation of Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 7 (4): 398–407.
- ↑ The dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0-520-94143-4. OCLC 801843269.