Dracorex

Skull of Dracorex

• North America ( Hell Creek Formation)

• Dracorex hogwartsia

Dracorex (Latin for " Dragon King " ) is a genus of Pachycephalosauria, one belonging to the bird Beck dinosaurs dinosaur group from the late Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian ) of North America. The only way to scientifically described, and therefore the type species, D. hogwartsia is. Like all Pachycephalosaurier was also Dracorex a two-legged, herbivorous animal.

Fund history

Dracorex hogwartsia 's only been documented by a fossil sites, which mainly consists of a nearly complete fossilized skull with teeth. Three fossil collectors retrieved the ruined remains strongly in 2003 from the rock known for its fossil wealth Hell Creek Formation from the Obermaastrichtium in the U.S. state of South Dakota. They also found four associated cervical vertebrae: the head of view from the first cervical vertebra C1 or Atlas, the C4, C8 and C9. The finder handed over the following year, the fossils at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, the largest children's museum in the world. The vertebrate paleontologist Victor Porter, an employee of the museum and one of the co -authors of the scientific first description, freed in an approximately two-year, time-consuming process, the fossils of extant remains of rock and put the skull fragments together.

Description

The anatomical features of the approximately 45 -centimeter-long skull of Dracorex allow the assignment of the dinosaur to the Pachycephalosauriden. The skull shows a juxtaposition of original and modern, derived characteristics. Such derived and characteristic for the genus-specific feature is the lack of a cutting edge at the tip of the upper jaw. The bone resembles at this point the rough gummy plate of manatees in a reduced form. Unusually for a Pachycephalosauriden the outgoing Cretaceous is the flat skull roof, so the lack of bone dome formed by extreme thickening of the skull bones, as is typical for the so far known members of this subgroup. The Pachycephalosaurier specialist Robert Sullivan has developed the thesis that - other than as described in the textbooks - the trend is not of the flachschädeligen to kuppelschädeligen forms, but vice versa, so a flat skull is the derived feature. Other scientists, however, the thesis that it is merely in Dracorax a juvenile specimen of Pachycephalosaurus, as the strong osteodermale sculpturing from bumps, spikes, horns and crests on the skull roof and the upper jaw of the Dracorex is not dissimilar from Pachycephalosaurus.

The appearance of the Postkranialskeletts, the part of the skeleton excluding the skull is reconstructed by Stegoceras largely because the presence of these related species corresponding discoveries. Some games are geared to the flachschädeligen Homalocephale. Dracorex probably including the tail reaches a length of about four meters and its weight corresponded to that of a large horse.

The skin bone elements give the animal in conjunction with the flat skull and a long muzzle a certain similarity with the dragons from myths and fairy tales.

Naming

After the skull was composed, he was shown before the scientific description and naming the Children's Museum to the public. Children were reminded at the sight of a dragon and the scientists served as inspiration for the choice of the generic names. As the well-known paleontologist Robert T. Bakker, lead author of the first description, the skull saw for the first time, it reminded him of the fantastic creatures from the world of popular fantasy young adult novel series by JK Rowling about the main character Harry Potter. He named the species epithet of the two-part Binomens for the magic school Hogwarts, the place where plays a large part of the novel actions. In honor Rowling and the literary world created by it officially received Dracorex hogwartsia ( " Dragon King of Hogwarts " ) its name.