Gravitholus
| Gravitholus Temporal range: Late Campanian,
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| Skull TMP 72.27.01 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Pachycephalosauria |
| Family: | †Pachycephalosauridae |
| Genus: | †Gravitholus Wall & Galton, 1979 |
| Species: | †G. albertae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Gravitholus albertae Wall & Galton, 1979
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Gravitholus (meaning 'heavy dome') was a genus of dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period (Campanian stage, around 75 million years ago). It was a pachycephalosaur, and like other pachycephalosaurids the skull roof formed a thick dome made of dense bone, which may have been used in head-butting contests over mates or territory. It lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, and was described in 1979 by W. P. Wall and Peter Galton.
The type species is Gravitholus albertae.
There is some debate amongst paleontologists as to whether the animal represents a distinct genus, or if it may be synonymous with Stegoceras. Recent publications indicate it may be a valid genus. Gravitholus is one of several pachycephalosaurids known from Dinosaur Park, including Stegoceras validum, Hanssuesia sternbergi, and Foraminacephale brevis. It is unclear whether all of these species would have lived in the area at the same time. A 2020 CSVP abstract found Gravitholus and Hanssuesia to be synonymous with Stegoceras.[1]
See also
References
- ^ Dyer, Aaron D.; Powers, Mark J. (2020). "The problematic pachycephalosaurid Gravitholus albertae: synchrotron imaging facilitates reappraisal of taxonomic validity" (PDF). Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Paleontology.
- Wall, W.P. & Galton, P.M. (1979). "Notes on pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs (Reptilia: Ornithischia) from North America, with comments on their status as ornithopods". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 16:1176-1186
- Maryanska, T., Chapman, R.E., and Weishampel, D.B. (2004). "Pachycephalosauria". In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 464-477
External links
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