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herbivore

Pachycephalosauridae

Dome-headed dinosaurs

83.6–66 MYA

Pachycephalosaurids are defined by their skulls: a thickened, often strongly domed roof of solid bone, in some genera many centimeters deep, sitting atop an otherwise fairly typical small-headed, bipedal body plan. What that dome was actually for has been debated for decades -- early interpretations favored head-to-head combat similar to modern bighorn sheep, while more recent biomechanical studies suggest flank-butting or purely visual display may have been just as, or more, important.

The family is known almost entirely from the Late Cretaceous, concentrated in North America and Asia. Pachycephalosaurus, the largest and best-known genus, carries the most pronounced dome of the family; Stegoceras, smaller and more completely known from multiple skeletons, has provided much of the anatomical detail behind the ongoing head-butting debate.

Meet the giants

12 genera, ordered oldest to newest — the evolutionary line, not the alphabet.

GenusPeriodMax weightHeightDietRegion
AmtocephalePachycephalosauridae100.5–83.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
AcrotholusPachycephalosauridae85.7–83.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
TexacephalePachycephalosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
SinocephalePachycephalosauridae83.6–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
SphaerotholusPachycephalosauridae83.6–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
ColepiocephalePachycephalosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
BrontotholusPachycephalosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
TylocephalePachycephalosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
ForaminacephalePachycephalosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
PlatytholusPachycephalosauridae72.2–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
AlaskacephalePachycephalosauridae72.2–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
HanssuesiaPachycephalosauridaeUnknown rangeUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown

Weight and height are best estimates from published research, not exact measurements — sauropod mass in particular varies by method and specimen. Most genera below are newly classified and still awaiting full measurements.

Further reading