Sphaerotholus goodwini, S. buchholtzae, S. edmontonense

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

PLEASE support us on Patreon! We really do need all of your support to keep this blog running - any amount helps!

Name: Sphaerotholus goodwini, S. buchholtzae, S. edmontonense

Name Meaning: Ball Dome

First Described: 2002

Described By: Williamson & Carr

Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Pachycephalosauria, Pachycephalosauridae

Sphaerotholus is a poorly known genus of Pachycephalosaurid that, for some reason, has three species assigned to it. S. goodwini is known from the Kirtland Formation of New Mexico, dating back to about 73 million years ago, in the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous. It is known from just the dome, as many Chunkies are. S. buchholtzae is known from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, dating to the Maastrichtian age, about 66 million years ago. It is known from a partial skull as well. S. edmontonense is known from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in Alberta, dating back to approximately 70 or so million years ago, in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous. It is known from three domes that were once assigned to Troodon, back when we thought Troodon was a Pachycephalosaurid. It lived for a long time, had a widespread distribution, and yet we don’t know much more about it other than it was an average sized Pachycephalosaurid (ie, about a meter high) and had a round domed skull. 

Source:

Shout out goes to @zooearth!