Stegoceras
Stegoceras was a small, plant-eating dinosaur that had a large, thick-skulled head. This dinosaur may have butted heads with others of its kind in bone-shaking contests. Many Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaur fossils have been found in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, USA.
| Stegoceras Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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| Skeletal mounts of two individuals. | |
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Fossil
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| Genus: | Stegoceras Lambe, 1902
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| Species: | S. validum
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| Stegoceras validum | |
Description
Stegoceras was a herding dinosaur that lived in small groups in coastal and upland regions. Running was probably its first line of defense. Stegoceras lived during the late Cretaceous period, toward the end of the Mesozoic Era, the Age of Reptiles, about 76-65 million years ago. Stegoceras was first found in 1889.
Experiments on models
Images of the insides of Stegoceras' fossilised skull showed two layers of dense bone that encase a spongy sinus held apart by tiny struts, has led some scientists to doubt this interpretation.
Computer tomographic (CT) scans on the skulls of Stegoceras, along with a variety of modern animals were used to create 3D models of the animals' heads. The team was then able to exert virtual stresses to test how the different skulls held up.
Compared to some of today's big hitters, such as the Northern American bighorn sheep, Stegoceras' head was able to withstand the most stress.[1]
Stegoceras Media
Partial dome CMN 515, lectotype of S. validum, shown from the right and underside
CT images of juvenile, flat-headed AMNH 5450 (formerly considered the distinct genus "Ornatotholus"), with sections on the right
Size of S. validum compared to a human
CT images of skull UALVP 2 in multiple views, showing relative surface densities of bone (blue: low, yellow: high)
Life restoration of S. validum, with integument based on other small ornithischian dinosaurs
Reconstructed skeleton showing ossified tail tendons in place, National Museum of Natural History
Partial skull of a juvenile, flat-headed S. validum, UCMZ(VP) 2008.001
Mandible and teeth of UALVP 2
Growth series of S. validum skulls, according to Schott et al., 2011
CT images of TMP 84.5.1, a juvenile or subadult S. validum, with sections
