Majungatholus

Majunga dome

• Majunga · Malagasy/French place name · Mahajanga, the region of Madagascar where it was found
• tholos · Greek · dome

The name combines "Majunga", an older spelling of Mahajanga, the region of northwestern Madagascar where the fossils were found, with the Greek "tholos", meaning dome. It was chosen because the first skull was thought to belong to a dome-headed pachycephalosaur. The dome was later shown to be a thickened skull roof with a horn-like knob on a theropod, an abelisaurid.

Named by

Sues and Taquet

Year named

1979

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, Madagascar

Junior synonym of Majungasaurus (named by Lavocat in 1955). Majungatholus atopus was first described as a pachycephalosaur, but later specimens showed it is the same animal as Majungasaurus crenatissimus, an abelisaurid theropod. Majungasaurus has priority, so Majungatholus is no longer used.