Pachycephalosaur

PHOTOS - LEFT: From the outside, the dome-headed Pachycephalosaur may have looked quite intelligent. Surely such large skulls housed well developed brains.
RIGHT: This was not the case. In the cross section you can see the actual size of the brain.

The Pachycephalosaurs were a group of plant-eating dinosaurs with short faces and extremely thick skull roofs. They were related to the ceratopsians.

Some species of Pachycephalosaurs also had bony frills, knobs and spikes on the back and sides of their heads, and sometimes even their snouts.

The thick skull was probably used to establish dominance between males, much as the horns of big horn sheep are used today.

This document was prepared by Wayne Hortensius, Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society. All information © 1995 Royal Tyrrell Museum. All Rights Reserved.
Updated: April 8, 1995

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