Homalocephale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Homalocephale Fossil range: Late Cretaceous |
||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||||||||
|
H. calathocercos Maryanska & Osmolska, 1974 (type) |
Homalocephale (from Greek homalos, "even", and kephalē, "head") is a genus of dinosaur belonging to the pachycephalosaurid family, which lived during the late Cretaceous Period. The genus was described in 1974 by Osmólska & Maryañska, and consists of a single species, the three meter-long herbivore Homalocephale calathocerco.
Sporting a flat, wedge-shaped skull roof, H. calathocerco was different from other pachycephalosaurs. The species is also noted for having an unusually broad pelvis, which lead some paleontologists to suggest that the wide hips were for giving birth to live young. Others have suggested that the width served to protect vital organs from harm during flank-butting.[1] Homalocephale also had rather long legs, indicating a fast-moving gait.
The type species, H. calathocerco, was described from an incomplete skull and postcranial material. The specimen has large openings on the top of the skull, a distinct frontoparietal suture, low and long infratemporal fenestrae, and a large, round orbit. The dorsal ornamentation was notably rough, with nodal ornamentation on the lateral and posterior sides of the squamosal. It was concluded that the specimen was an adult, despite the fact that the sutures are discernible and that it had a flat skull (a juvenille trait in many pachycephalosaurid species).
Homalocephale lived in what is now Mongolia, 80 million years ago.
[edit] References
- ^ Carpenter, Kenneth (1997). "Agonistic behavior in pachycephalosaurs (Ornithischia:Dinosauria): a new look at head-butting behavior" (pdf). Contributions to Geology 32 (1): 19–25.
- Fantastic Facts About Dinosaurs (ISBN 0-7525-3166-2)
