May 22, 2006Dracorex hogwartsia
Harry Potter Meets Paleontology
A newly discovered 66-million-year-old skull from a new dinosaur species was named after Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, made famous in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. This nearly complete skull, from a creature named Dracorex hogwartsia, now has a permanent home in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, announced paleontologist Robert Bakker.
The 10-foot-long herbivore was recreated and publically displayed as scientists think it looked by mounting the skull on the skeleton of a closely related pachycephalosaurus. Children who visited the museum said the skeleton looked like a dragon. Robert T. Bakker, a national dinosaur expert and consultant to The Children's Museum, took that into account when deciding on its name.
CONTINUED...
A newly discovered 66-million-year-old skull from a new dinosaur species was named after Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, made famous in JK Rowling's Harry Potter series. This nearly complete skull, from a creature named Dracorex hogwartsia, now has a permanent home in the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, announced paleontologist Robert Bakker.
The 10-foot-long herbivore was recreated and publically displayed as scientists think it looked by mounting the skull on the skeleton of a closely related pachycephalosaurus. Children who visited the museum said the skeleton looked like a dragon. Robert T. Bakker, a national dinosaur expert and consultant to The Children's Museum, took that into account when deciding on its name.
CONTINUED...
