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Yaverlandia is a genus of theropod dinosaur. Known from a partial fossil skull found in Lower Cretaceous strata on the Isle of Wight, it was described as the earliest known member of the pachycephalosaurid family, but recent research by Darren Naish shows it to have actually been a theropod, seemingly a maniraptoran. Yaverlandia was named from where it was found, Yaverland Point.

Etymology[]

Yaverlandia was about 3 ft (1 m) in length and 1 ft (30 cm) in height.

Discovery and naming[]

MIWG 1530, the holotype skull, was discovered in 1930, in England and were commented upon by Watson (1930). It was referred to as an iguanodontid of the genus Vectisaurus in 1936. When Steel (1969) followed Hulke (1879) in listing Vectisaurus as an iguanodontid, Peter Malcolm Galton (1971) named the fossil as Yaverlandia, which he described as a pachycephalosaurid since the skull of Yaverlandia was different than that of Vectisaurus (Mantellisaurus).

In 2012 additional remains were reported, but these have not been described.

JPInstitute.com Description[]

Yaverlandia is the oldest known member of the dome-headed dinosaurs. It is an ancestor of the Jurassic Park star, Pachycephalosaurus. This was a very small dinosaur, a little plant-eater whose domed head was not as thick as its later relatives.

Discovered in England in the 1930's, this little dinosaur was not formally described until 1971. It is a very early pachycephalosaur and it is somewhat unique in having twin domes on the top of the skull. It is known only from a partial skull.

Links[]

https://web.archive.org/web/20040214163336/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc_yaver.html

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