Micropachycephalosaurus: Research Database
Ceratopsia (Ornithischia) · Late Cretaceous (~80-73 MYA) · Asia — China (Shandong, Wangshi Group)
Research Note: Micropachycephalosaurus was a small ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of China — one of the smallest known ceratopsians and an important taxon for understanding ceratopsian diversity and evolution in the Cretaceous of Asia.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Butler & Zhao 2008: Micropachycephalosaurus and new data on small ceratopsians from the Cretaceous of China
Butler & Zhao 2008 provide comprehensive data on Micropachycephalosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of China, establishing it as a small ceratopsian and documenting ceratopsian diversity in the Cretaceous of Asia
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Confirmed | A | 2008 | Fossil | Butler & Zhao, Cretaceous Research | Taxonomy |
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Rozadilla & Agnolín 2021: Micropachycephalosaurus and additional data on ceratopsian systematics from the Cretaceous
Rozadilla & Agnolín 2021 provide additional data on Micropachycephalosaurus and ceratopsian systematics, further contextualising its significance within Ceratopsia
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Confirmed | B | 2021 | Fossil | Rozadilla & Agnolín, Cretaceous Research | Systematics |
Active Debate: Ceratopsian Evolution and Cretaceous Asian Ecosystems
Whether small ceratopsians like Micropachycephalosaurus occupied distinct ecological niches from larger ceratopsians is debated. The diversity and evolution of ceratopsians in the Cretaceous of Asia — and their relationships to North American ceratopsians — is key to understanding ornithischian history.
What We Still Do Not Know About Micropachycephalosaurus
- Complete skeletal morphology: Partial specimen known.
- Diet: Likely herbivorous.
- Social behavior: No direct evidence.
- Frill: Unknown.
In Depth
Paradoxically Micropachycephalosaurus is one of the smallest dinosaurs that we know about, yet it easily has one of the longest names. Micropachycephalosaurus was named from a partially preserved individual that in 1978 was perceived as what we now call a pachycephalosaur. However more modern analysis in the early portion of the twenty-first century noted that there is no evidence that Micropachycephalosaurus had a thickened skull roof, a key feature for a pachycephalosaur. Micropachycephalosaurus is today considered to more likely be a small ceratopsian dinosaur. This is not that far away from the original classification given that the ceratopsian and pachycephalosaurid dinosaurs are thought to have had a common ancestry within the ornithischian (bird hipped) dinosaurs.
Micropachycephalosaurus was a very small dinosaur, and one that was probably reliant upon speed and agility to try and evade predators such as dromaeosaurid and troodontid dinosaurs.
Further Reading
- [A new genus of Pachycephalosauria from Laiyang, Shantung]. - Vertebrata PalAsiatica 16(4):225-228. - Z. Dong - 1978. - A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). - New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 35: 347-365. - R. M. Sullivan - 2006. - The small-bodied ornithischian dinosaurs Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis and Wannanosaurus yansiensis from the Late Cretaceous of China. - Cretaceous Research 30 (1): 63–77. - R. J. Butler & Q. Zhao - 2009.
