Pachycephalosaurus
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Pachycephalosaurus
''Pachycephalosaurus'' (; meaning "thick-headed lizard", from Greek ''pachys-/'' "thick", ''kephale/'' "head" and ''sauros/'' "lizard") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs. The type species, ''P. wyomingensis'', is the only known species, but some researchers argue that there might be a second species, ''P. spinifer''. It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now North America. Remains have been excavated in Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alberta. It was a herbivorous creature which is primarily known from a single skull and a few extremely thick skull roofs, at 22 centimetres (9 inches) thick. More complete fossils have been found in recent years. ''Pachycephalosaurus'' was among the last non-avian dinosaurs before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The genus ''Tylosteus'' has been synonymized with ''Pachycephalosaurus'', as have the genera ''Stygimoloch'' and ''Dracorex'' in recent studies. Like other pachycephalosaurids ...
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Pachycephalosaur Skull (AMNH 1696)
Pachycephalosauria (; 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 65.5 million years ago. 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. Candidates for the earliest known pachycephalosaur include ''Ferganocephale adenticulatum'' from Middle Jurassic Period strata ...
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Pachycephalosaurid
Pachycephalosauria (; 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 65.5 million years ago. 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. Candidates for the earliest known pachycephalosaur include ''Ferganocephale adenticulatum'' from Middle Jurassic Period strata ...
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Conserved Name
A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules which would otherwise prevent it from being legitimate. ''Nomen conservandum'' is a Latin term, meaning "a name to be conserved". The terms are often used interchangeably, such as by the ''International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants'' (ICN), while the ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' favours the term "''conserved name''". The process for conserving botanical names is different from that for zoological names. Under the botanical code, names may also be "suppressed", ''nomen rejiciendum'' (plural ''nomina rejicienda'' or ''nomina utique rejicienda'', abbreviated as ''nom. rej.''), or rejected in favour of a particular conserved name, and combinations based on a suppressed name are also listed as “''nom. re ...
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Rejected Name
A conserved name or ''nomen conservandum'' (plural ''nomina conservanda'', abbreviated as ''nom. cons.'') is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules which would otherwise prevent it from being legitimate. ''Nomen conservandum'' is a Latin term, meaning "a name to be conserved". The terms are often used interchangeably, such as by the ''International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants'' (ICN), while the ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' favours the term "''conserved name''". The process for conserving botanical names is different from that for zoological names. Under the botanical code, names may also be "suppressed", ''nomen rejiciendum'' (plural ''nomina rejicienda'' or ''nomina utique rejicienda'', abbreviated as ''nom. rej.''), or rejected in favour of a particular conserved name, and combinations based on a suppressed name are also listed as “''nom. re ...
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Cretaceous–Paleogene Extinction Event
The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction) was a sudden mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth, approximately 66 million years ago. With the exception of some ectothermic species such as sea turtles and crocodilians, no tetrapods weighing more than survived. It marked the end of the Cretaceous Period, and with it the Mesozoic era, while heralding the beginning of the Cenozoic era, which continues to this day. In the geologic record, the K–Pg event is marked by a thin layer of sediment called the K–Pg boundary, which can be found throughout the world in marine and terrestrial rocks. The boundary clay shows unusually high levels of the metal iridium, which is more common in asteroids than in the Earth's crust. As originally proposed in 1980 by a team of scientists led by Luis Alvarez and his son Walter, it is now generally thought that the K–Pg extinction was cause ...
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Erich Maren Schlaikjer
Erich Maren Schlaikjer (; November 22, 1905 in Newtown, Ohio – November 5, 1972) was an American geologist and dinosaur hunter. Assisting Barnum Brown, he co-described ''Pachycephalosaurus'' and what is now ''Montanoceratops''. Other discoveries include ''Miotapirus'' and a new species of ''Mesohippus''. Schlaikjer attended Harvard University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1929. He received master’s and doctoral degrees from Columbia University in 1931 and in 1935, respectively. Honors Selected highlights of honors: * Parmentier Scholar, Harvard University 1924 to 1925. * University Fellow, Columbia University, 1931 to 1932. * Cressy Morrison Prize, New York Academy of Science, 1939. * Fellow of The Geological Society of America, 1939. * Fellow of the Paleontological Society of America, 1940. * Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. * Who’s Who in America, 1949 Supplement, 1950 edition to date. Publications *Schlaikjer EM. (1931 ...
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Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ...
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Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. With a population of 576,851 in the 2020 United States census, Wyoming is the List of U.S. states and territories by population, least populous state despite being the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 10th largest by area, with the List of U.S. states by population density, second-lowest population density after Alaska. The state capital and List of municipalities in Wyoming, most populous city is Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne, which had an estimated population of 63,957 in 2018. Wyoming's western half is covered mostly by the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern half of the state is high-elevation prairie called the High Plains (United States), High Plains. It is drier ...
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Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories (NWT) to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. It is one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada (Saskatchewan being the other). The eastern part of the province is occupied by the Great Plains, while the western part borders the Rocky Mountains. The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature changes due to air aridity. Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional Chinook winds. Alberta is the fourth largest province by area at , and the fourth most populous, being home to 4,262,635 people. Alberta's capital is Edmonton, while Calgary is its largest city. The two are Alberta's largest census metropolitan areas. More tha ...
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Herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthparts adapted to rasping or grinding. Horses and other herbivores have wide flat teeth that are adapted to grinding grass, tree bark, and other tough plant material. A large percentage of herbivores have mutualistic gut flora that help them digest plant matter, which is more difficult to digest than animal prey. This flora is made up of cellulose-digesting protozoans or bacteria. Etymology Herbivore is the anglicized form of a modern Latin coinage, ''herbivora'', cited in Charles Lyell's 1830 ''Principles of Geology''.J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, eds. (2000) ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. 8, p. 155. Richard Owen employed the anglicized term in an 1854 work on fossil teeth and skeletons. ''Herbivora'' is derived from Latin ''herba' ...
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Biped
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' 'double' and ''pes'' 'foot'). Types of bipedal movement include walking, running, and hopping. Several groups of modern species are habitual bipeds whose normal method of locomotion is two-legged. In the Triassic period some groups of archosaurs (a group that includes crocodiles and dinosaurs) developed bipedalism; among the dinosaurs, all the early forms and many later groups were habitual or exclusive bipeds; the birds are members of a clade of exclusively bipedal dinosaurs, the theropods. Within mammals, habitual bipedalism has evolved multiple times, with the macropods, kangaroo rats and mice, springhare, hopping mice, pangolins and hominin apes (australopithecines, including humans) as well as various other extinct groups evolving the trait ...
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Skull Roof
The skull roof, or the roofing bones of the skull, are a set of bones covering the brain, eyes and nostrils in bony fishes and all land-living vertebrates. The bones are derived from dermal bone and are part of the dermatocranium. In comparative anatomy the term is used on the full dermatocranium. Romer, A.S. & T.S. Parsons. 1977. ''The Vertebrate Body.'' 5th ed. Saunders, Philadelphia. (6th ed. 1985) In general anatomy, the roofing bones may refer specifically to the bones that form above and alongside the brain and neurocranium (i.e., excluding the marginal upper jaw bones such as the maxilla and premaxilla), and in human anatomy, the skull roof often refers specifically to the skullcap. Origin Early armoured fish did not have a skull in the common understanding of the word, but had an endocranium that was partially open above, topped by dermal bones forming armour. The dermal bones gradually evolved into a fixed unit overlaying the endocranium like a heavy "lid", protec ...
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