Pachycephalosauria (/ˌpækɪsɛfələˈsɔːriə,-ˌkɛf-/;[1] from Greek παχυκεφαλόσαυρος for 'thick headed lizards') is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. Along with Ceratopsia, it makes up the clade Marginocephalia. With the exception of two species, most pachycephalosaurs lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, dating between about 85.8 and 66 million years ago.[2] They are exclusive to the Northern Hemisphere, all of them being found in North America and Asia. They were all bipedal, herbivorous/omnivorous animals with thick skulls. Skulls can be domed, flat, or wedge-shaped depending on the species, and are all heavily ossified. The domes were often surrounded by nodes and/or spikes. Partial skeletons have been found of several pachycephalosaur species, but to date no complete skeletons have been discovered. Often isolated skull fragments are the only bones that are found.[3]
Candidates for the earliest-known pachycephalosaur include Ferganocephale adenticulatum from Middle Jurassic Period strata of Kyrgyzstan and Stenopelix valdensis from Early Cretaceous strata of Germany, although R.M. Sullivan has doubted that either of these species are pachycephalosaurs.[4] The oldest known pachycephalosaur is currently Sinocephale bexelli from the Late Cretaceous of China.[5] In 2017, a phylogenetic analysis conducted by Han and colleagues identified Stenopelix as a member of the Ceratopsia.[6]
^"Pachycephalosauria". Oxford Dictionaries UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press.[dead link]
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Sullivan 2006 [verification needed]
^Evans, David; Brown, Caleb M.; You, Hailu; Campione, Nicolás E. (2021). "Description and revised diagnosis of Asia's first recorded pachycephalosaurid, Sinocephale bexelli gen. nov., from the Upper Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. e–First (10): 981–992. doi:10.1139/cjes-2020-0190. S2CID 244227050.
^Han, F.-L.; Forster, C.A.; Clark, J.M.; Xu, X. (2016). "Cranial anatomy of Yinlong downsi (Ornithischia: Ceratopsia) from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang, China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (1): e1029579. doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.1029579. S2CID 130791053.
and 30 Related for: Pachycephalosauria information
Pachycephalosauria (/ˌpækɪsɛfələˈsɔːriə, -ˌkɛf-/; from Greek παχυκεφαλόσαυρος for 'thick headed lizards') is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. Along...
held rigid by ossified tendons. Pachycephalosaurus gives its name to Pachycephalosauria, a clade of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that lived during...
There are two clades included in Marginocephalia: the thick-skulled Pachycephalosauria and the horned Ceratopsia. All members of Marginocephalia were primarily...
prominent cranial crests formed by multiple different bones of the skull. Pachycephalosauria, at one time thought to be close to ornithopods and know known to...
1016/j.cretres.2010.05.003. Hou Lian-Hai (1977). "A new primitive Pachycephalosauria from Anhui, China.It is the second smallest dinosaur in world after...
groups Marginocephalia and Ornithopoda. The former includes clades Pachycephalosauria and Ceratopsia, while the latter typically includes Hypsilophodon...
("horned feet") †Marginocephalia (characterized by a cranial growth) †Pachycephalosauria (bipeds with domed or knobby growth on skulls) †Ceratopsia (bipeds...
suborder within Ornithischia, Pachycephalosauria. In 1978, the Chinese palaeontologist Dong Zhiming split Pachycephalosauria into two families; the dome-headed...
Marginocephalia ("fringed heads"). The latter group includes the Pachycephalosauria ("thick-headed lizards") and Ceratopsia ("horned faces"). The following...
Prenocephale as sharing the basic body plan common to all of the other Pachycephalosauria: a stout body with a short, thick neck, short forelimbs and tall hind...
1671/0272-4634(2003)23[181:rotdsl]2.0.co;2. Maryańska, T.; Osmólska, H. (1974). "Pachycephalosauria, a new suborder of ornithischian dinosaurs" (PDF). Palaeontologica...
other pachycephalosaurs. Alaskacephale was a member of the group Pachycephalosauria, a family of thick-skulled, herbivorous, bipedal dinosaurs that lived...
of pachycephalosaur research Maryańska, T.; Osmólska, H. (1974). "Pachycephalosauria, a new suborder of ornithischian dinosaurs" (PDF). Palaeontologica...
Paleontologist Dong Zhiming originally described it as a member of the Pachycephalosauria, a group of bipedal dome-headed herbivores. However, re-evaluation...
Dinosaur vision was, in general, better than the vision of most other reptiles, although vision varied between dinosaur species. Coelurosaurs, for example...
these taxa were grouped in a new order Maryańska and Osmólska named Pachycephalosauria, which contained North American genera like Stegoceras and Pachycephalosaurus...
The largest prehistoric animals include both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Many of them are described below, along with their typical range of size...
ontogenetic status of Homalocephale calathocercos (Ornithischia: Pachycephalosauria) from the Nemegt Formation, Mongolia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology...
suggested that this served to store minerals for antler growth. Many Pachycephalosauria and most members of the Dinocephalia clade of therapsids had thickened...
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