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In 2004, during the opening gala for Dinosphere, while people were listening to music and admiring the new exhibit, some of the world’s most accomplished paleontologists had gathered in the Paleo Prep Lab around a small gray cart. On that cart was a fossil skull. The skull was covered in bumps, spikes and knobs. It was a type of Pachycephalosaur (a dome headed dinosaur), but instead of having a dome there were two very large holes, called supratemporal fenestra, in the skull.
The fossil was still partially wrapped in a protective field jacket, but to all the observers it clearly was something new to science.
Watch the incredible moment when these paleontologists first met Dracorex...
Standing with this group was Brian Buckmeier along with brothers Steve and Pat Saulsbury. These skilled fossil collectors had discovered the dinosaur during a trip to the 66 million year old Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota. They had proudly donated this new find to the museum. The fossil was in remarkably good condition, but still there were problems. It had been found eroding out of the rock—and erosion is seldom kind to fossils.
Luckily the museum’s vertebrate paleontologist, Victor Porter, was well known for his skills in fossil preparation. He was able to repair areas of the skull that were fractured, and piece together the 4 cervical, or neck vertebrae, that had been shattered by erosion long before the specimen was discovered. While Victor carefully worked on this fossil, Dr. Robert Bakker, who is perhaps the most iconic figure in American paleontology, took the lead on research for this dinosaur.
“It looks like a dragon” was an exclamation that Victor heard daily from enthusiastic children. Usually scientifically significant specimens are prepared for research and exhibition in a back room, well away from any distractions. Victor, however, chose to work on the fossil skull while in the Paleo Lab window, in full view of the public and while answering their many questions. It was Victor’s then 9 year old daughter, Victoria, who heard the visitors’ comments and first suggested naming the animal dragon king. After being placed in the proper Latin, it became Dracorex.
After hearing this Dr. Bakker was thrilled. He knew the value of a good dinosaur name. Bakker then suggested “hogwartsia” as the species in honor J.K. Rowling and her series of Harry Potter books. After a quick discussion among museum staff, donors, and paleontologists, the dinosaur would then be known as Dracorex hogwartsia, or Dragon King of Hogwarts.
There’s a lot we still don’t know about Dracorex. Bone growth indicates that it was not yet fully grown which has led some to suggest that it was a juvenile that would have grown a dome later in life. Others suggest that it may be an example of sexual dimorphism, perhaps only males had domes & Dracorex was a female. Others, like Bakker, firmly believe that this animal is an entirely new dinosaur discovery. Oddly enough these are all ideas and suggestions made on that first day of the Dinosphere gala, when everyone was gathered around a small gray cart holding a cool dinosaur skull.
There is still a lot to learn about Dracorex. Read more about Dracorex today in the blog post, Dracorex hogwartsia, 10 Years Later, from Dinosphere Lead Interpreter, Mookie Harris.
