Dracorex Hogwartsia, R.I.P.
Ever since the first dinosaur fossils were discovered, experts have had a hard time distinguishing between adults and juveniles--with the result that many supposedly "new" dinosaurs (like the pint-sized Nanotyrannus) have turned out on further examination to be juveniles of existing species (e.g., Tyrannosaurus Rex). Now, a new analysis of pachycephalosaur fossils by a joint team from The University of California, Berkeley and The Museum of the Rockies has cast doubt on two named genuses of pachycephalosaur, Dracorex and Stygimoloch.
According to the team (which includes the famous paleontologist Jack Horner), specimens of Dracorex and Stygimoloch probably represent earlier growth stages of Pachycephalosaurus. As this article on the UC Berkeley website says, "The confusion is traced to their bizarre head ornaments, ranging from shields and domes to horns and spikes, which changed dramatically with age and sexual maturity, making the heads of youngsters look very different from those of adults."
Based on these findings, Horner has issued a shocking statement, speculating that as many as one-third of all the dinosaur species named so far are spurious, and represent different growth stages of previously named dinosaur genuses. If he's right, a lot of the current dinosaur literature is going to have to be completely rewritten!
Comments
Interesting and upsetting for dinosaur enthusiasts like me.
Horner always likes to create controversy, when he needs to round up more sponsorship dollars from National Geographic and others. He didn’t even look at the draco skull. If he had simply examined the four neck vertebrae that were with Draco, he would have discovered that they are adult vertebrae. His scientific analysis is poor. If something is not fitting with his theory, he doesn’t do anything to prove that wrong. He simply trys to support his theory with things that fit, not things that don’t. He wouldn’t fair well in the field of medicine or law. Paul Serano has found a new adult pachy with a dome that is really small and yet to be named yet. Horner says that the horns on Draco get bigger and later it forms a dome and we call it Stygimoloch and later a Pachy develops. The horns get smaller and lose their points. Well Stygi has one less horn than Draco. He apparently didn’t see that. If he would have examined the skull itself he would have seen this. Poor analysis. The ornamentation on Draco’s head between the two temporal fenestra shows that this doesn’t develop a dome. The sutures examined on the head of Draco by Dr. Bakker and Dr. Phil Currie show an adult specimin. It is unfortunate that this person can continually have the ear of the media. He is a media darling and noboby calls him on it.
Brian