Dino card No. 0096 of 2,027

Amtocephale

Say it: AM-toe-SEF-ah-lee

Name means: “Amtgai head”1

Ate: PlantsDome-headsLate Cretaceous

Amtocephale was a small dome-headed dinosaur that lived in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It walked on two legs and used its thick, bony head like a helmet.5 2

Lived

100 to 84 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Amtgai, southern Gobi Desert, Mongolia5 2

Food

Plants5

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Amtocephale may be the oldest known pachycephalosaurid dinosaur, living about 100 to 84 million years ago.2

Its name means 'Amtgai head' because the first fossil was found at a place called Amtgai in Mongolia.1

Only one nearly complete skull bone, called a frontoparietal dome, has been found so far.2

The dome of Amtocephale had deep pits on top, which helped attach strong neck muscles.2

Unlike some later dome-headed dinosaurs, Amtocephale did not have holes (supratemporal fenestrae) in the top of its skull.2

AI-made picture of Amtocephale — An AI-made picture of how Amtocephale might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Amtocephale

?How big was Amtocephale?

It was a small dinosaur. Its skull dome was only about 5.3 centimetres (2.1 inches) long and 1.9 centimetres (0.75 inches) thick.3 5

?Is Amtocephale the oldest pachycephalosaur?

It may be the oldest known pachycephalosaurid. It lived about 100 to 84 million years ago, but scientists are not completely sure of the exact age.3 4

?What did Amtocephale eat?

Amtocephale was a plant-eater. Like other pachycephalosaurs, it ate leaves and other plants.3

?Where was Amtocephale found?

Its fossil was found at a place called Amtgai in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.3 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Amtocephale
Named by: Watabe et al. 20115
Group: Dome-heads
Family / clade: Pachycephalosauridae5
Classification: Ornithischia > Pachycephalosauria5
Age of the rocks: 100 to 84 million years (Cenomanian / Santonian)5
Rock formations: Baynshire5
Countries: Mongolia5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Amtocephale was named in 2011 by paleontologists Mahito Watabe, Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar, and Robert Sullivan based on a single fossil dome found in the Baynshire Formation of Mongolia.5
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Amtocephale is the oldest pachycephalosaurid or just one of the earliest, because its skull features look like those of later, more advanced species.2

Where the facts come from

PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
(PDF) A NEW PACHYCEPHALOSAURID FROM THE BAYNSHIRE FORMATION (CENOMANIAN-LATE SANTONIAN), GOBI DESERT, MONGOLIA (academia.edu)
Amtocephale (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
A new pachycephalosaurid from the Baynshire Formation - Robert M ... (yumpu.com)
Amtocephale in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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