Tylocephale

Tylocephale is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous. The name derives from Greek elements meaning “knobbed head,” a reference to its distinctive thick, domed skull. The genus is known primarily from cranial material, and no complete skeleton has been confidently assigned to it.

The available remains are fragmentary, and the features used to diagnose Tylocephale are limited. As a result, the taxonomic status of the genus has been the subject of debate. Some researchers have treated Tylocephale as a valid pachycephalosaur genus, while others have proposed that it may be a synonym of another genus or represent an indeterminate dome.

As with other pachycephalosaurs, Tylocephale would have been a small to medium-sized ornithischian with a thick, domed skull that may have been used in intraspecific display or combat. The differences in skull morphology that define Tylocephale, if any, remain based on partial material.

Classification places Tylocephale within Pachycephalosauridae, a group of dome-headed dinosaurs within the larger Pachycephalosauria. The genus illustrates the diversity and fragmentary nature of pachycephalosaur remains known from Late Cretaceous deposits. Further fossil discovery would be needed to clarify its relationships and validity within the group.