← Dinosaurs Pachycephalosauridae

Alaskacephale Alaskacephale

"head"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Alaskacephale 1.5 m (4.9 ft) long
2 people holding hands
Length
1.5 m (4.9 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (70–69 Mya)
Place
North America
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Pachycephalosauridae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Marginocephalia

Alaskacephale is an extinct genus of pachycephalosaurid, a group of dome-headed, herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs, that lived during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now northern Alaska. The genus is one of the few known Arctic dinosaurs and was found in the Prince Creek Formation, which preserves a menagerie of fossils. The only known specimen, a squamosal bone, was found in 1999 and later described in 2005. However, Alaskacephale was not formally named until the next year.

Alaskacephale, due to the lack of fossil remains, is poorly known. Despite this, the presence of bony protuberances from the skull prove that it was a pachycephalosaur. Later phylogenetic analyses suggest it was a close relative of Pachycephalosaurus. However, Alaskacephale is distinguished from other genera by the two rows of nodules found along the squamosal.

What we know

  • Named by Sullivan, 2006.
  • Body length estimated at about 1.5 m.
  • Fossils found in North America.