Gravitholus

Gravitholus (meaning 'heavy dome') was a genus of dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period (Campanian stage, around 75 million years ago). It was a pachycephalosaur, and like other pachycephalosaurids the skull roof formed a thick dome made of dense bone, which may have been used in head-butting contests over mates or territory. It lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, and was described in 1979 by W. P. Wall and Peter Galton.

Gravitholus Temporal range: Late Campanian, 75 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skull TMP 72.27.01
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Family:	†Pachycephalosauridae
Genus:	†Gravitholus Wall & Galton, 1979
Species:	†G. albertae
Binomial name
†Gravitholus albertae Wall & Galton, 1979

The type species is Gravitholus albertae.

There is some debate amongst paleontologists as to whether the animal represents a distinct genus, or if it may be synonymous with Stegoceras. Recent publications indicate it may be a valid genus. Gravitholus is one of several pachycephalosaurids known from Dinosaur Park, including Stegoceras validum, Hanssuesia sternbergi, and Foraminacephale brevis. It is unclear whether all of these species would have lived in the area at the same time. A 2020 CSVP abstract found Gravitholus and Hanssuesia to be synonymous with Stegoceras.[1]