Paleontologists discover near-complete fossil of oldest dome-headed dinosaur

A group of paleontologists unearthed the most complete fossil of a new species of a famed dome-headed dinosaur to date during a dig in Mongolia.

The team found the pristine skeleton in the Khuren Dukh locality of the Eastern Gobi Basin in Mongolia, which was lined with lakes and cliffs during its prehistoric heyday.

They determined the fossil belongs to a new species of pachycephalosaur dubbed the Zavacephale rinpoche — which they surmise is roughly 108 to 115 million years old, according to their research paper published in Nature on Wednesday.

The pachy skeleton is the oldest and most complete specimen of its kind ever uncovered. The team celebrated the find as a “once-in-a-lifetime discovery.”

“It is remarkable for being the oldest definitive pachycephalosaur, pushing back the fossil record of this group by at least 15 million years, but also because of how complete and well-preserved it is,” Lindsay Zanno, associate research professor at North Carolina State University and co-author of the paper, wrote in a statement obtained by ABC News.

The skeleton likely belonged to a “teenaged” juvenile dinosaur and measured just 3 feet long and weighed around 13 pounds. Its well-developed dome head indicated that it had likely sexually matured before its demise, Tsogtbaatar Chizorig, the lead author of the paper, wrote in a statement.

Its skull was small enough to fit in the palm of a researcher’s hand.

The pachycephalosaurs are best known for their gargantuan heads that had a shield-like covering on top. The animals would frequently butt heads, similarly to how goats lock horns, just with greater force.

Beyond protecting their cranium, the thick domes were also likely used to attract mates and fend off competition — meaning whichever had the most impressive dome was the most desirable.

“If you need to headbutt yourself into a relationship, it’s a good idea to start rehearsing early,” Zanno said.

The find’s exact species, the Z.rinopoche, is the earliest discovered divergence from the pachycephalosaurians. Its existence alone pushed fossil evidence of the developed frontoparietal dome by at least 14 million years, according to the research team.

“Z. rinpoche is an important specimen for understanding the cranial dome development of pachycephalosaurs, which has been debated for a long time due to the absence of early diverging or pre-Late Cretaceous species and the fragmentary nature of nearly all pachycephalosaurian fossils,” Chinzorig said.

In late August, a group of scientists discovered a fossilized larva that was more than 500 million years old and, somehow, still had its brain and intestines perfectly intact.

One unlucky bunch, though, somehow lost their discovery to a dump.

A professor at New Jersey’s William Paterson University sued his employers after they neglected to pay an overdue UPS fee while the transport company was supposed to be shipping his collection back from Florida.

The snaffu caused his life’s work to be ditched in a Tennessee dump, the professor alleged in a lawsuit.