Open Paleo

Goyocephale

Perle et al., 1982 GOH-yo-SEF-a-lee

From Mongolian goyo (decorated, ornate) and Ancient Greek kephale (head); meaning 'decorated head'

85.7–66.0 million years ago Santonian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Goyocephale is an extinct genus of pachycephalosaurian ornithischian that lived in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous about 76 million years ago. It was first described in 1982 by Altangerel Perle, Teresa Maryańska and Halszka Osmólska for a disarticulated skeleton with most of a skull, part of the forelimb and hindlimb, some of the pelvic girdle, and some vertebrae. Perle and colleagues named the remains Goyocephale lattimorei, from the Mongolian гоё (goyo), meaning "decorated", and the Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephale), for head. The species name honors Owen Lattimore.

Diagnosis

  1. Supratemporal fenestra longitudinally oval with narrow interfenestral bridge about one third the transverse width of the fenestra
  2. Occiput weakly concave with a relatively small occipital condyle
  3. Ventral maxillary edge weakly arched laterally along its posterior portion
  4. Medial portion of cranial roof indistinctly ornamented
  5. Sacrum includes only four weakly coossified vertebrae
  6. Dorsal surface of preacetabular process of ilium flat and bent angularly along medial and lateral margins; medial iliac flange short anteroposteriorly; postacetabular process straight and subrectangular in lateral view

Species

Goyocephale lattimorei Perle et al., 1982

Type species

Named for Owen Lattimore, the American scholar and expert on Mongolia and Central Asia.

Holotype
GI SPS 100/1501 , Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Material
Disarticulated skeleton including complete skull roof, damaged occiput, basicranial region, left postorbital bar, fragments of quadrates and jugals, premaxillae and maxillae with dentition, mandibles with dentition, atlas intercentrum, 2 spinal processes of dorsals, sacrum, nearly complete series of 32 caudal centra, ilia, left humerus, fragmentary left ulna and radius, sterna, distal left tibia, proximal left fibula, two left distal tarsals, metatarsals II-IV, pedal phalanges, caudal tendons
Horizon
Santonian–Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 85.7–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Bor Khovil, Ömnögovi, Mongolia Perle and colleagues (1982) describe the horizon as red sandstones.

References

  1. Perle, A.; Maryańska, T.; Osmólska, H. (1982). Goyocephale lattimorei gen. et sp. n., a new flat-headed pachycephalosaur (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 27(1-4): 115-127. perle1982a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a