Re: Triebold pachy (any pubs?)

[NICK SNELS <NICK.SNELS@student.kuleuven.ac.be>]

It is the first time that one has found material from the neck. Both
the atlas and axis are present and three other cervicals, including
the last one. Attached to the last cervical is a string of three
dorsals with wedge shaped centra. As a result the neck is nearly
perpendicular to the back, which apparently wouldn't have the
animals permitted to butt heads. The cervicals apparently weren't as
solid as one would expect from an animal which would have used his
head as a battering ram. One has always portrayed pachy's with a
solid, rather robust neck, so that it would be adapted to their life
style. 

But I think one should make a distinction between the various pachy
specimens. It could very well be that animals like Pachycephalosaurus
or Stegoceras had quite robust necks, since they used their heads as a
ram. The necks of the flat-headed pachy's, like Homalocephale and
Goyocephale, could be much less robust, since they used to push each
others head or flank. And Stygimoloch fully relied on its massive
horns at the back of his head to avoid collisions with another male.
That's maybe the explanation for his small dome and his "fragile"
neck. Off course this is all speculation, except for Stygimoloch,
since no other neck material has been found or hasn't been recognized
as such. But it is a fact that people tend to generalize most things.
This is also true for the Pachycephalosauria. Most people think that
they all had very thick heads and they were all the time fighting and
smashing their heads against each other. But this wasn't true and we
should consider every specimen seperately!


Cheers,

Nick Snels
PACHYCEPHALOSAURIA: http://www.geocities.com/nick.snels/



Nick Longrich wrote:
> 
> >  You are of course refering to Sandy, the most
> >complete *Pachycephalosaurus*? Found in the Hell
> >Creek, this skull and skeleton have apparently been
> >ascribed to *Pachycephalosaurus*, though it was
> >formerly considered *Stygimoloch* based on the caudal
> >squamosal "horns." Triebold and Russell (1995) in the
> >15th issue of _JVP_ (suppl. to 3) described the Sandy
> >site to some degree. I am unaware, however, of more
> >extensive information. Triebold _has_ appeared on TV
> >(in Paleoworld, and I think on another program)
> >describing the unique neck of this animal and
> >dismissing the whole "battering ram" theory.
> 
>         What exactly is the neck like then?
> 
>         -N