During the Late Cretaceous period, 100 million to 65 million years ago, the dinosaur kingdom had entered its twilight. But just as it was nearing its end, many unique groups evolved within the dinosaur family, and these newly introduced "actors" put on an exceptionally glorious final act for the dinosaur world.
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Pachycephalosaurs are a very unique group among these newly introduced "actors". Their most prominent feature, which distinguishes them from other dinosaur groups, is the abnormally swollen and thickened skull. Therefore, scientists speculate that they may have been like goats, with males frequently butting heads, and the victor maintaining a higher social status within the group.
Pachycephalosaurus, discovered on the Mongolian Plateau, is one of the earliest representatives of pachycephalosaurs.
The specimen of Pachycephalosaurus consists of only a broken skull, but this skull, which is less than 13 centimeters high, has a thickness of 10 centimeters at the top! Such a peculiar skull can only belong to the Pachycephalosaurus family, and its function was probably only to resist the huge impact generated by violent collisions, so as to prevent damage to the brain and other organs of the head.
Scientists speculate that Pachycephalosaurus was 2 meters long and weighed less than 50 kilograms, making it a small species in the Pachycephalosaurus family.
The dinosaurs lived on the Mongolian Plateau 80 million years ago. Their habitat was arid, and at times even desertified. Fossilized plants from the same period attest to this, as they were all drought-resistant species. However, the Gobi Desert on the Mongolian Plateau today is much drier than it was during the dinosaurs' time. This is because sea levels were higher then, allowing more water vapor from the ocean to reach the area and form rainfall. Therefore, the Gobi Desert's climate was much wetter then, and many shallow ponds or lakes could form during the rainy season.
