Texacephale

Texacephale
Temporal range: Late Campanian, 77 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: †Ornithischia
Family: †Pachycephalosauridae
Genus: †Texacephale
Longrich, Sankey & Tanke, 2010
Species: †T. langstoni
Binomial name
Texacephale langstoni
Longrich et al., 2010

Texacephale is a genus of basal pachycephalosaurid dinosaur from the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The type species is Texacephale langstoni; its fossils were discovered in the Aguja Formation and described in 2010 by Longrich, Sankey and Tanke. The generic name means Texas + "head" (kephale in Greek) in reference to its place of discovery, and the specific name honors Wann Langston.[1]

Discovery

The holotype specimen of Texacephale, LSUMNS 20010, is composed of fused frontals and parietals. A second specimen, LSUMNS 20012, is composed of an incomplete frontoparietal dome.[1] According to the team, the fossilized dome of the animal possessed five to six vertical flanges on each lateral side, connecting it with the postorbital bone. The team interpreted these structures as interlocking "gears" that would help deal with stress on the bone during head-butting,[2] a hypothetical behavior that had earlier been challenged by other authors.[3][4]

Phylogeny

Cladogram after Longrich, Sankey and Tanke (2010).[1]

Pachycephalosauridae


Stegoceras

Gravitholus

Colepiocephale

Texacephale

Hanssuesia

Sphaerotholus brevis

S. goodwini

S. edmontonense

S. bucholtzae
Pachycephalosaurini

Alaskacephale

Pachycephalosaurus

Stygimoloch

Dracorex

Tylocephale

Prenocephale

Homalocephale

Goyocephale

Wannanosaurus







See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Longrich, N.R., Sankey, J., and Tanke, D. (2010). "Texacephale langstoni, a new genus of pachycephalosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation, southern Texas, USA". Cretaceous Research. 31 (2): 274–284. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2009.12.002.
  2. ↑ Head-ramming dino had ‘gears’ in skull
  3. ↑ Dinosaur Study Makes No Butts About It / Round-skull species didn't bash heads
  4. ↑ Cranial histology of pachycephalosaurs (Ornithischia: Marginocephalia) reveals transitory structures inconsistent with head-butting behavior
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