Dino card No. 1467 of 2,027

Prenocephale

Say it: PREN-oh-SEF-ah-lee

Name means: “sloping head”1

Ate: PlantsDome-headsLate Cretaceous

Prenocephale was a small dinosaur with a thick, round dome on its head. It lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous period. This plant-eater used its strong legs to walk on two feet.1

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mongolia (Nemegt Formation)1 3

Food

Plants1 2

Length

2.2 m1

Weight

40 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 10 house cats

as long as 4 house cats nose to tailas long as 12 bananas end to endas heavy as 8 watermelons

How big was Prenocephale compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Prenocephale had a row of small bony spikes and bumps on its dome.1

Its skull was rounded and sloping, unlike the flat head of its relative Homalocephale.1

Scientists think Prenocephale lived in high upland forests, not dry deserts.1

The first Prenocephale fossil was found by the Polish-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition in the Gobi Desert.1

Prenocephale was about 2.2 metres long and weighed around 40 kilograms, similar to a large dog.1

AI-made picture of Prenocephale — An AI-made picture of how Prenocephale 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 Prenocephale

?How big was Prenocephale?

Adult Prenocephale measured about 2.2 to 2.4 metres (7.2 to 7.9 feet) long and weighed around 40 kilograms (88 pounds).1

?What did Prenocephale eat?

Prenocephale was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. Some scientists think it may have also eaten insects.1 2

?Why did Prenocephale have a dome on its head?

Scientists think the dome might have been used as a defensive weapon. It may also have been important for showing off, but that is still debated.2

?Where did Prenocephale live?

Prenocephale lived in what is now Mongolia, in high upland forests during the Late Cretaceous period.1

?Was Prenocephale a dinosaur?

Yes, Prenocephale was a small pachycephalosaurid dinosaur, a type of plant-eating dinosaur with a thick skull dome.1

?When did Prenocephale live?

Prenocephale lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Prenocephale
Named by: Maryańska and Osmólska 19743
Group: Dome-heads
Family / clade: Eupachycephalosauria3
Classification: Ornithischia > Pachycephalosauria3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Nemegt, Kirtland, Baruungoyot3
Countries: Mongolia, USA3
Fossil records: 6 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Prenocephale was named in 1974 by Teresa Maryańska and Halszka Osmólska based on a well-preserved skull and some bones found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.1 3
Still debated: Scientists debate whether some other pachycephalosaurs, like Homalocephale, are actually young Prenocephale.1

Where the facts come from

Prenocephale (en.wikipedia.org)
PACHYCEPHALOSAURlA, A NEW SUBORDER OF ORNITHISCHIAN DINOSAURS (palaeontologia.pan.pl)
Prenocephale in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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