The Pachyrhinosaurus was a genus of dinosaurs that inhabited the Earth during the well-known Cretaceous period (approximately 68 million years ago). This specimen is classified within the group of the ceratopsial dinosaurs ceratopsids.

This genus would have had a really intimidating appearance. This is because it had a solid prominence in the area of the nasal structure. In addition to that its body generally looked robust and similar to that of a modern-day rhinoceros.

The Pachyrhinosaurus had a huge frill around its head. In addition, it had two small horns that protruded slightly from the frill.

Do you want to know more? Here’s all the information on the Pachyrhinosaurus that exists. Don’t go away and find out all about this herbivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous!

Pachyrhinosaurus Taxonomy

• This dinosaur belongs to the Animalia kingdom.
• Corresponding to the phylum Chordata.
• Of the Sauropsida class.
• Belongs to the superorder Dinosauria.
• The specimen corresponds to the order Ornithischia.
• It belongs to the suborder Neornithischia.
• Within the family Ceratopsidae.
• Being part of the subfamily Centrosaurinae.
• It is considered to correspond to the Pachyrhinosaurini tribe.
• Of the genus Pachyrhinosaurus.

History of Pachyrhinosaurus

In what is now the northern area of America, this animal developed his life and was responsible for fighting for their survival until the last of his days, it is known that lived in that place because the remains that were found were located in the province of Alberta, this event took place in 1946, precisely in the middle of world war, by Sternberg.

In 1950, this same prestigious researcher was in charge of giving it its official name after years of intense analysis and study, placing this name highlighting the main characteristic of this dinosaur.

A total of a dozen bone elements were found on that occasion, as well as a group of vestiges that have been found over the years.
The curious thing is that most of these remains that had been located in the place, were not really within the reach of the power of science, that is why it was not possible to make any kind of study or scientific progress on the knowledge of this specimen of prehistory.

Everything began to change in the 1980s, when these remains began to be released for public study, so from that year a great advance was made on the main data and qualities of the specimen.

We can clearly state that this specimen had a total length of about 500 centimeters, while its weight was quite proportional, so 4 or 5 tons seemed to be the right figure to designate.

It is also known that it was a specimen that based its diet on the consumption of vegetables, so it had within its structure a dental row that allowed it to chew all the vegetable food that could be extracted from the environment in which it developed its wild and complicated existence.

Without forgetting to mention in an evident way that it had structures similar to the cheeks that we possess, with the purpose of conserving the food while it was processed by the dental elements mentioned in previous lines.

From the beginning this unique specimen had been frequently linked to another specimen identified under the name of Achelousaurus, which was not entirely wrong.

In addition, other specimens or structures have been found that have been studied for the benefit of science. These vestiges were located in Bearpaw and in a formation identified under the name of Cañón Herradura.

Additionally, another set of remains was recovered from a territory located in the state of Alaska, precisely in an area that today is identified as the Prince Creek formation. All these remains, it is estimated, belong to a period that dates back to about 70 million years ago.

Pachyrhinosaurus characteristics

A quite curious detail about this singular specimen is that it lacked a structure that appears in other specimens, the famous horns of the Ceratopsians, instead of such structure, this animal presented a solid prominence that could be located in a simple way just in the area where the nasal structure was located, such prominence was flat and of a considerable size with respect to the total size of the skull, so it can be stated for sure that it caused a great impression when looking at it.

It is presumed in a rather reserved manner that the bone structure mentioned in the previous paragraph could have been used to make several thrusts towards the enemy, especially if he was in the middle of a bloody fight in which one could only kill or be killed, whether the fight was between specimens of the same species or between specimens of different families.

In addition, it possessed two smaller horns that could only be seen in an area called by scientists as a “flyer”, horns that could reach up to the top of the animal.
On the other hand, the famous “gola” or “volante” of this specimen had a particular shape of this species, the same happened with its size, and it is also known that this gola had the function of informing the other specimens of the age that this animal possessed, as well as if it was female or male or if it belonged to a higher hierarchy within the herd.

The size of the skull was quite surprising, since if we measure and calculate the size of the specimen, we can deduce that the skull occupied 25 percent of the total length of the body of the specimen, which is not a minor detail.

From the false horn that this animal possessed, the debate still exists among diverse groups of scientists, while some affirm the presence of this horn, others were in charge of elaborating foundations to deny such affirmation, so we can only mention positions on the matter, but we cannot venture to say something with total certainty.

The reason for the above-mentioned debate is that it has not yet been possible to locate a cranial element that is totally intact, this fact makes it impossible for science to know the true nature of this mysterious specimen that has not been able to be completely revealed until now.

It is also believed that it was an animal that took very zealous care of its offspring, they would not even have allowed them to walk alone through the territory while they did not have enough strength and intelligence to be able to defend themselves from any threat, one of those defense resources were the onslaught, which we can imagine very similar to those of the animals that we currently identify under the name of rhinoceroses.