What Type of Environment Did the Pachycephalosaurus Live In?

The Pachycephalosaurus

• The Pachycephalosaurus, whose name means "thick-headed dinosaur," sported a large, dome-shaped head that was about 10 inches thick. It was as tall as a full-grown man but often grew 9 feet long from the top of the head to the tip of the tail. This dinosaur moved in small herds, walked upright but was not a fast runner. Scientists first thought this dinosaur rammed its head into other dinosaurs as a line of defense, but more recent discoveries by paleontologist Mark Goodwin, suggest this wasn't possible due to the porous nature of the skull and weakness of the neck vertebrae.

Cretaceous Period

• The Cretaceous period was the last period for the dinosaurs and ranged from 142 to 65 million years ago. The Pachycephalosaurus lived in an area once known as Laurasia, the landmass that once connected North America and Asia. During this time period, North America was half-covered in warm seas where the modern-day Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains now are located. The climate is thought to have been much warmer and humid at this time. Towards the end of the Cretaceous period, primitive versions of flowering plants began to emerge and quickly outnumbered the ferns and other plant life on which the herbivore dinosaurs fed.

The Pachycephalosaurus Diet

• Since scientists have only been able to located scattered fossils and intact skulls, they can only speculate on what Pachycephalosaurus ate. It is thought to have been a herbivore or an omnivore, which eats both plants and animals. Because of its short, ridged teeth, eating tough plant matter or meat would have been difficult and it probably stuck with eating soft leaves, insects and fruits. To feed on low-level plants, the Pachycephalosaurus would have lowered to all fours to eat with more ease.

Changes in Climate

• Towards the end of the Cretaceous period, many changes in the climate took place that probably added to the eventual extinction of the Pachycephalosaurus and other dinosaurs. The sea level began dropping, causing more land exposure and more seasonality in the climate. Large-scale earthquakes caused the continents to split from one another further and they began taking their modern-day form. This split of the continents probably caused the Pachycephalosaurus to adapt to its new surroundings prior to its extinction.