pachycephalosaurians

Pachycephalosaurians are a clade of small to medium-sized herbivorous dinosaurs within the ornithischian group Marginocephalia. They are best known for their thickened skull roofs forming a dome. The name derives from Greek pachys meaning thick and kephalos meaning head. They lived during the Late Cretaceous period, roughly 85 to 66 million years ago, with fossils found in what are now North America and Asia.

Anatomy and characteristics include beaked mouths and specialized teeth for processing vegetation. Most pachycephalosaurians were bipedal, though some may have been capable of a limited quadrupedal stance. The body was relatively compact with short forelimbs and strong hindlimbs; sizes ranged from small to moderately large, about 1 to 4 meters in length. The skull dome, formed by thickened cranial bones, was the most distinctive feature and in some species included knobs or horns. The dome shapes varied among genera and may reflect age or species differences.

Classification and taxonomy have evolved since their discovery. Traditionally, two groups were recognized: dome-headed pachycephalids and flat-headed homalocephalids. More recent analyses often place flat-headed forms as either juveniles or separate lineages within a broader pachycephalosaur context, with many authorities treating all as members of Pachycephalosauridae. Notable genera include Pachycephalosaurus, Stegoceras, Prenocephalus, Homalocephalus, and Stenopelix (with its exact relationships debated).

Paleobiology and behavior are dominated by questions about the dome’s function. The dome is thought to have been used in intraspecific display or combat, possibly including head-butting during mating or competition, though some researchers emphasize display rather than contact. The rest of the skeleton indicates an herbivorous lifestyle adapted to processing vegetation.

Fossil record and distribution show that pachycephalosaurians were most common in Late Cretaceous deposits of North America and Asia and disappeared by the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. They contribute to understanding the diversity of dome-bearing dinosaurs within Marginocephalia.