Dracorex
DRAY-co-REX
- featured
Dracorex – full name Dracorexis hogwartsia – is a herbivore from the pachycephalosaur family and is notable for its large horns and ridged skull. In fact, this dinosaur’s appearance gives a clue to its name; the English translation of Dracorex is ‘Dragon King’. Dracorex was approximately 3.5m in length and weighed in at over 1,300lbs, with an armored skull that protected it from predators.
Discovery
This dinosaur was first discovered in South Dakota’s Hell Creek formation in 2004, when three amateur paleontologists dug up a partial skull and other small fragments of bone. The trio donated the fossils to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, where it was officially named following a poll of children who visited the exhibition.
Palaeoecology
Dracorex lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period approximately 65-70 million years ago, alongside other species of dinosaur including Ankylosaurus, Edmontosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Pachycephalosauridae
- Genus
- Dracorex
- height
- 1.5M
- length
- 3.5M
- weight
- 600Kg
- Diet
- Ground Paleobotany
- Egg batch size
- 3 - 8
