Texacephale

Texacephale Temporal range: Late Campanian, 77 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Suborder:	†Pachycephalosauria
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

• Timeline of pachycephalosaur research

References

1. 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

External links