Micropachycephalosaurus

Micropachycephalosaurus, a tiny thick headed lizard, is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous. It was a herbivore, and lived in what is now Shandong, China. It was one of the smallest dinosaur ever discovered, just over a meter long, but with the longest name. Before it was discovered Compsognathus was the smallest known dinosaur.^[1]

Drawing of what a Micropachycephalosaurus might have looked like.

Micropachycephalosaurus Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous 70.6–68.5 mya
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Suborder:	Cerapoda
Genus:	Micropachycephalosaurus

The lack of the skull roof means the fossil cannot be placed at family level. It might or might not be a pachycephalosaur. Butler and Zhao therefore classified it as an indeterminate member of the Cerapoda.^[1] In 2011, cladistic analysis showed that Micropachycephalosaurus is a basal member of the Ceratopsia.^[2] In this context, basal does not mean 'ancestral'; the fossil is far too late for that. It means simply 'unspecialized', or lacking derived traits.

Related pages

• Wannanosaurus