Open Paleo

Ferganocephale

Averianov et al., 2005 fur-GAN-no-SEF-uh-lee

From Fergana (the Fergana Valley region of Central Asia, near Kyrgyzstan where it was found) + Greek kephale, 'head'; means 'Fergana head'

165.3–161.5 million years ago Callovian, Middle Jurassic
Middle Jurassic stages

Ferganocephale is a dubious genus of neornithischian dinosaur. It was from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Svita of Kyrgyzstan. The type and only species is F. adenticulatum.

Under dispute

Ferganocephale was originally described as the oldest pachycephalosaur on the basis of isolated teeth (Averianov and colleagues, 2005), but this was soon disputed (Sullivan, 2006) and it is now treated as an ornithischian of uncertain placement (Butler and Sullivan, 2009; Jones, 2026).

Diagnosis

  1. Main crown ridge poorly differentiated or not distinguishable.
  2. Vertical crown ridges leading to marginal denticles very weak or absent.
  3. Marginal crown denticles absent or so small that they are eliminated by the slightest wear.
  4. Basal crown cingulum interrupted at the center of the labial side in maxillary teeth and of the lingual side in mandibular teeth.
  5. Vertical wrinkled ornamentation present on the less concave crown side adjacent to the basal cingulum interruption, at least in some teeth.

Species

Ferganocephale adenticulatum Averianov et al., 2005

Type species

From Latin 'a-' (without) and 'denticulatum' (little teeth or denticles), meaning 'without tooth serrations', referring to the smooth, non-serrated teeth on which the taxon is based.

Holotype
ZIN PH 34/42 , Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
Material
Isolated unworn adult tooth, FTA-30 site, northern Fergana Valley.
Horizon
lower Balabansai Formation, Callovian, Middle Jurassic , 165.3–161.5 million years ago
Locality
Sarykamyshsai 1, Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan Averianov and colleagues (2005) recovered the holotype tooth by screen-washing one fossiliferous lens, FTA-30, within the Sarykamyshsai 1 locality, 3 to 4 km east of Tashkumyr. Material referred in the same paper comes from other lenses at other levels of the formation.

References

  1. Averianov, A. O.; Martin, T.; Bakirov, A. A. (2005). Pterosaur and dinosaur remains from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Svita in the northern Fergana Depression, Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia). Palaeontology 48(1): 135-155. Wiley. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2004.00437.x averianov2005a
  2. Butler, R. J.; Zhao, Q. (2009). The small-bodied ornithischian dinosaurs Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis and Wannanosaurus yansiensis from the Late Cretaceous of China. Cretaceous Research 30(1): 63-77. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2008.03.002

    Disputed Ferganocephale being the oldest pachycephalosaur based on isolated teeth

    butler2009b
  3. Sullivan, R. M. (2006). A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior 35: 348-365.

    Disputed the pachycephalosaur identity of Ferganocephale.

    sullivan2006a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Treats Ferganocephale as a nomen dubium, an ornithischian of uncertain placement.

    jones2026a