Genus
Valid Extinct

Acrotholus

Evans et al. 2013

Acrotholus is an extinct genus of pachycephalosaurian dinosaur that lived during the Santonian of the late Cretaceous, in the Milk River Formation of Canada. The type species, A. audeti, was named after Roy Audet allowing access to his ranch leading to the discovery of the species. The discovery of this specimen lead to several new revelations in the fossil records questioning the preservation of small-bodied organisms along with the evolution of early pachycephalosaurs. The iconic cranial dome found on Acrotholus makes it one of the earliest indisputable known members of the pachycephalosaur family. Like others of its clade, Acrotholus was a bipedal herbivore characterized by a dome-shaped head. The dome had often been associated with intra-species combat, although the exact methods of contact have been debated.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Acrotholus
click to enlarge
Holotype dome of Acrotholus on display at the Royal Ontarion Museum, Toronto © LittleLazyLass · CC0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Ornithischia Unranked clade
Neornithischia Unranked clade
Pyrodontia Unranked clade
Cerapoda Unranked clade
Marginocephalia Unranked clade
Pachycephalosauria Suborder
Pachycephalosauridae Family
Pachycephalosaurinae Subfamily
Acrotholus Genus
Measurements
Length
2,4 m
Acrotholus audeti
Mass
60 kg
Acrotholus audeti
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇦 Canada
1
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Santonian (85.7–83.6 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Acrotholus audeti 86 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
D. C. Evans, R. K. Schott, and D. W. Larson, C. M. Brown, M. J. Ryan. 2013. The oldest North American pachycephalosaurid and the hidden diversity of small-bodied ornithischian dinosaurs. Nature Communications 4:1828 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
D. C. Evans, R. K. Schott, and D. W. Larson, C. M. Brown, M. J. Ryan. 2013. The oldest North American pachycephalosaurid and the hidden diversity of small-bodied ornithischian dinosaurs. Nature Communications 4:1828 DOI ↗