Prenocephale

Prenocephale was a dome-headed dinosaur that inhabited the ancient rivers and floodplains of the Nemegt Basin in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous. Measuring approximately two metres long and weighing about forty kilograms, it was a nimble biped. Unlike North American contemporaries such as Stegoceras, Prenocephale lacked open temporal fenestrae on the top of its skull, possessing a rounded, steep-sided dome entirely encircled by small bony studs. Its teeth suggest a varied herbivorous or possibly omnivorous diet, consisting of soft leaves, fruits, roots, and potentially insects. Because several well-preserved skulls and partial skeletons were recovered by Polish-Mongolian expeditions, Prenocephale provides crucial anatomical details about the Asian radiation of eupachycephalosaurs, which flourished alongside gigantic sauropods and theropods in lush, riverine habitats.

Unlike many North American relatives, it had rows of bony tubercles decorating the sides of its dome.

Where and when

Prenocephale lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 72 to 69 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from Mongolia, in the Nemegt Formation.

The numbers

Length 2.3 m (estimates run from 2 to 2.5 m). Mass about 39 kg. Hip height about 0.8 m. That is 1.4 human-lengths, or 0.21 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Prenocephale with a bus Place on the timeline