Thursday 3 September 2015

Creature 338: Dracorex hogwartsia





The dragon king of hogwarts
Dracorex hogwartsia is a recognised dinosaur species which has been recently (2006) described.
The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Dracorex skeletal reconstruction.jpg

It is the only species in the genus Dracorex, meaning dragon king. The specific epithet hogwartsia is a tribute to the Harry Potter series. Its spiky head and long muzzle probably gave it a dragon-like appearance.

DracorexHogwartsia02
The name might be pretty cool, but it may not exist forever.  Some scientists believe they it is not a separate genus or species but that it is the juvenile form of a species of Pachycephalosaurus. Apparently the bizarre horns and bumps on the head changed quite dramatically as the dinosaur matured. I have no idea which hypothesis is correct.

Distribution:
The only fossil which has ever been uncovered was found in South Dakota and is from the late Cretaceous.

Classification:
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Ornithischia
Family:Pachycephalosauridae
Genus:Dracorex
Species: Dracorex hogwartsia

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