Dino of the Week: Pachycephalosaurus

Andy Davidson, Writer

Name: Pachycephalosaurus (pak-ee-SEF-uh-lo-SAWR-us)

Time Period: The Pachycephalosaurus, or Pachy for short, walked the earth approximately 75 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period. This means it was roaming around with many popular dinos such as the T-Rex and the Velociraptor.

Diet: The Pachy was believed to be a herbivore, living mostly off of plants, fruits, and seeds. It is also believed that its teeth were too soft to handle some of the tougher foliage of the day so the plants it ate must have been soft. Researchers believe that it is also possible for it to have eaten insects.

Size: The Pachy was as long as a box truck at 16 feet long and as heavy as a brown bear at around 1000 pounds. It walked on two legs and stood at a whopping 17.5 feet tall.

Fun Facts:

  • The Pachy’s skull was around 10 inches thick. In comparison, the human skull is around 7.1 millimeters thick. Because of this, its name means “thick-headed lizard”.
  • The Pachy has been found all over the world. It was originally found in Montana, but has since been found in Canada, Mongolia, and even Madagascar.
  • Before full skeletons were found of the Pachy, its rounded head was once mistaken as a different dinosaurs kneecaps.

Keep on the lookout for next week’s dino of the week as Andy returns with a new dino profile!