Platytholus
Platytholus was a small, dome-headed dinosaur that lived near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It walked on two legs and munched on plants with its beak-like mouth. Its skull had a flat, wide dome on top, which it may have used for head-butting contests.14
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Fun facts
Platytholus lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous.2
Its name means 'flattened dome' because its skull was wide and flat on top, unlike the tall domes of some other pachycephalosaurs.1
The only known fossil of Platytholus is a partial skull, discovered in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana.1
Platytholus was a pachycephalosaur, a group of dinosaurs known for their thick, bony skulls.1
Scientists think Platytholus may have used its flat dome for head-butting, like some other dome-headed dinosaurs.1
The species name clemensi honors paleontologist William A. Clemens Jr.1
Most asked questions about Platytholus
?How big was Platytholus?
It was a medium sized pachycephalosaur, with a skull dome about 21 centimetres long and 7.8 centimetres thick. It was smaller than Pachycephalosaurus but larger than Sphaerotholus.1
?Did Platytholus have feathers?
No direct evidence of feathers has been found for Platytholus. However, its skull had blood vessels that suggest a covering of keratin, like a bristly brush cut, not feathers.3
?What did Platytholus eat?
Platytholus was a plant eater. It had a beak-like mouth and munched on plants.1
?Could Platytholus head-butt?
Scientists are not sure. The skull had a healed injury, but some experts think the dome was too fragile for head-butting and was mainly used for display.3
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Platytholus
- Named by
- Horner et al. 20234
- Group
- Dome-heads
- Family / clade
- Pachycephalosauridae4
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Pachycephalosauria4
- Age of the rocks
- 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
- Rock formations
- Hell Creek4
- Countries
- USA4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- The first Platytholus fossil, a partial skull, was found in the early 2000s in Montana. In 2023, paleontologists John Horner, Mark Goodwin, and David Evans named it Platytholus clemensi.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Platytholus used its flat dome for head-butting or for display, since its dome is different from the tall domes of other pachycephalosaurs.1
Where the facts come from
- Platytholus (en.wikipedia.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Did dome-headed dinosaurs sport bristly headgear? - Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu)
- Platytholus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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Pachycephalosaurus
Stegoceras
Prenocephale
Sphaerotholus
Foraminacephale
Brontotholus
Tyrannosaurus
Triceratops
Velociraptor
Spinosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Parasaurolophus