Stygimoloch

demon from the River Styx

• Styx (Stygi-) · Greek · River Styx, the river of the underworld
• Moloch · Hebrew (via Latin/Greek) · a demon or fiend, after the biblical Moloch

The name combines the River Styx, the underworld river of Greek myth, with Moloch, a name associated with a biblical fiend or demon. Together they give "demon from the River Styx". It was chosen for the skull's crown of long, horn-like spikes, which gave the animal a devilish look. It also fits the Hell Creek Formation, where it was found.

Named by

Galton and Sues

Year named

1983

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA

The type species is Stygimoloch spinifer. In 2009 Horner and Goodwin proposed that Stygimoloch was a growth stage (a juvenile or subadult) of Pachycephalosaurus. Many researchers now treat it as a junior synonym of Pachycephalosaurus, but this is not universally accepted, and some still argue that it is a separate genus.