Dinosaurs – they once ruled the earth. They were everywhere – from North to South, from East to West. Then…they became extinct and most probably – it was a killer asteroid that paved the way for new evolution by wiping out dinosaurs. Of the myriads of dinosaurs that lived on earth several million years ago, there were some really terrifying one and there were some not-so-terrifying ones. One such not-so-terrifying one was Alaskacephale. In this article we are going to learn about 10 interesting Alaskacephale facts and find out where and when this dinosaur lived and how it looked like. Ready?
Before we start…
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Clade | Dinosauria |
| Order | Ornithischia |
| Family | Pachycephalosauridae |
| Genus | Alaskacephale |
| Species | A. gangloffi |
| Binomial name | Alaskacephale gangloffi |
At a glance
Name: Alaskacephale
Lived: 80 million years to 70 million years ago.
Historical Period: Late Cretaceous.
Diet: Herbivore
Locomotion: Bipedal
Distinguishing Characteristic: Thick skull
[/wc_box]Interesting Alaskacephale Facts: 1-5
1. Alaskacephale is the Greek name for “Alaskan Head”.
2. The name of this dinosaur is pronounced as ah-LASS-kah-SEFF-ah-lee and it was actually a pachycephalosaurid dinosaur (that is dinosaurs with a skull roof that was several centimeters thick).
3. This dinosaur lived during Late Cretaceous period from late Campanian stage to Maastrichtian stage.
4. This dinosaur’s remains were found in Alaska. The discovered skeleton was incomplete. The name has been derived from the US state where it was discovered.
5. The exact location where the fossil was found was Prince Creek Formation.
Interesting Alaskacephale Facts: 6-10
6. Though Gangloff et al described the specimen back in 2005, it was actually named as Alaskacephale in 2006.
7. The person who named the dinosaur was Robert Sullivan.
8. Experts estimate that the dinosaur was about 500 pounds in weight and was no longer than 8 feet.
9. Its exact habitat was in the region of Western U.S.’s Woodlands.
10. The dinosaur was an herbivore and the most distinguishing characteristic of the dinosaur was a thick skull on its head.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons