{"id":342071,"date":"2025-12-13T13:48:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/nearly-complete-skull-of-a-dome-headed-dinosaur-makes-its-way-to-the-smithsonians-national-museum-of-natural-history\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T13:48:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:48:50","slug":"nearly-complete-skull-of-a-dome-headed-dinosaur-makes-its-way-to-the-smithsonians-national-museum-of-natural-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=342071","title":{"rendered":"Nearly Complete Skull of a Dome-Headed Dinosaur Makes Its Way to the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Natural History"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The remarkable skull will be on display from December 22 through December 28. After spending the next few years behind the scenes for research, it will join NMNH\u2019s permanently showcased fossil collection<\/h2>\n
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McKenzie Prillaman<\/a><\/p>\n

– Assistant Digital Editor, Science & Innovation<\/span><\/p>\n

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Side view of NMNH’s newly acquired\u00a0Pachycephalosaurus<\/em> skull, which is a rare, nearly complete specimen
\n James D. Tiller and Phillip R. Lee \/ Smithsonian Institution<\/span>
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Millions of years ago, an odd-looking dinosaur roamed what\u2019s now North America. The unusual creature<\/a> walked on two legs, used a beak to munch on plants and had a domed head surrounded by knobby horns\u2014which it possibly used to butt heads with other animals.<\/p>\n

Now, a remarkably well-preserved skull of this dinosaur, called Pachycephalosaurus<\/em>, <\/em>or \u201cthick-headed lizard\u201d in Greek, has joined the fossil collection at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). Visitors can view the specimen from December 22 through December 28 in the museum\u2019s FossiLab<\/a>\u2014a working fossil preparation laboratory\u2014before it gets whisked off so researchers can learn about the animal\u2019s life 67 million years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis skull is by far the most spectacular specimen of this type of dinosaur that we have at the museum,\u201d says Matthew Carrano<\/a>, a paleontologist and NMNH\u2019s curator of Dinosauria, in a\u00a0press release<\/a>. \u201cWe almost never get to see the animal\u2019s face or the teeth or other parts of the head because they usually have broken away.\u201d<\/p>\n

After at least one or two years of scientific investigations, the skull will join NMNH\u2019s permanent display in the Hall of Fossils, reports the Washington Post<\/a><\/em>\u2019s Michael Laris. The museum also plans to create a digital 3D version of the specimen that will allow researchers around the world to conduct their own analyses of it.<\/p>\n

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The skull was unearthed in South Dakota in 2024<\/p>\n

James D. Tiller and Phillip R. Lee \/ Smithsonian Institution<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pachycephalosaurus<\/em> dinosaurs are estimated to have weighed around 1,000 pounds and reached up to 15 feet long, making them medium-sized dinosaurs. Their odd heads make them popular subjects of books and documentaries, and they\u2019re often depicted ramming their thick skulls into rivals.<\/p>\n

But researchers aren\u2019t sure that was the purpose of their round, spikey noggins, Carrano says in the press release. The lives of these dinosaurs and their kin have remained mysterious, largely because only fragments of their fossilized remains are generally recovered. Most specimens primarily consist of the animals\u2019 head domes.<\/p>\n

Pachycephalosaurus <\/em>bones are also hard to come by. Remains of this type of dinosaur account for less than one percent of fossils unearthed at the famous bonebed where the skull was discovered.<\/p>\n

For a researcher, the\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cdream is to walk along the Badlands and see a skull staring out of the ground at you. And it hardly ever happens,\u201d Kirk Johnson<\/a>, a paleontologist and director of NMNH, tells the Post<\/em>. \u201cIt happened this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A private dinosaur hunter noticed an eye socket popping out of the ground in the South Dakota portion of the Hell Creek Formation, according to the outlet. This rock layer holds remnants of the last 1.5 million years of the Cretaceous period, which ended when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago, killing all non-avian dinosaurs.<\/p>\n

The skull was recovered in 2024, and philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt purchased it earlier this year at a Sotheby\u2019s auction, after which they gifted it to NMNH. It\u2019s one of few known Pachycephalosaurus<\/em> skulls that are nearly complete. This specimen contains 32 different cranial bones, several teeth and even replacement teeth growing in its jaws. Studying the bones should help paleontologists pinpoint standalone Pachycephalosaurus<\/em> teeth in the Hell Creek Formation.<\/p>\n

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Fun fact: How many new fossils did NMNH acquire in 2025?<\/h4>\n

This prized Pachycephalosaurus<\/em> skull is one of nearly 60,000 specimens<\/a> to join NMNH\u2019s fossil collection this year.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Additionally, Carrano plans to take CT scans of the skull, which will allow a peek into internal structures, such as the dinosaur\u2019s brain cavity. \u201cWe can understand the shape and size of the brain and the position of each individual bone, which is really difficult to do when the outside looks basically like a bowling ball,\u201d\u00a0he says in the press release.<\/p>\n

No evidence points to the Pachycephalosaurus<\/em>\u2019s thick skull \u201cprotecting some bit of genius,\u201d Carrano tells the Post<\/em>, but perhaps his upcoming research on the specimen will shed some light on the ancient creature\u2019s intelligence level, which currently is \u201ca total mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

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