Miniature Dinosaur Skulls

By Pamela Harr

Detail of #2,  Tyrannosaurus Rex

Information about each of the miniature dinosaur skull sculptures is given in the table below. Numbers correspond to the photograph above.

Each sculpture is a limited edition of 1,000.

Complete set of ten miniature dinosaur skulls: $2,100. Individual sculpture prices listed below.

Sculpture	Description
1. Triceratops “Three-horned Face” 3.75″ x 2.25″ x 2.25″ $250	Triceratops is one of the best known of all dinosaurs and is the largest of the ceratopsian group.  Adults could reach a size of 30 feet in length, and weigh up to 12 tons.  Triceratops had a toothless beak, a massive bony neck frill, and three horns which could grow up to three feet in length.  Triceratops was an herbivore; it roamed the forests of what we now know as Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta, and Saskatchewan during the late Cretaceous Period, over 65 million years ago. This sculpture was modeled from the fossilized Triceratops horridus skull found in the Hell Creek Formation in Makoshika State Park . The skull is on display at the Makoshika State Park Museum in Glendive, Montana.
2. Tyrannosaurus Rex “King of the Tyrant Lizards” 3″ x 2″ x 1.75″ $350	T-Rex exemplifies the very idea of the ferocious bipedal predator. An adult T-Rex could grow up to 20 feet tall and 40 feet in length and could weigh between 5.5 and 7.75 tons. T-Rex is considered to be the largest predator to ever live on land.  The long tail acted as a counterweight to balance its immense head and body. Though its hind limbs were huge, its forelimbs were hardly longer that the forearms of an adult human.  T-Rex lived around 66 to 68 million years ago in what is now western North America. This sculpture was modeled from the first fossil of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skull ever discovered.  It was found in 1902 in the Hell Creek Formation and is now on exhibit nearby at the Garfield County Museum in Jordan, Montana.
3. Brachylophosaurus “Short-crested Lizard” 2.75″ x 1.5″ x 1.25″ $175	The model for this sculpture is one of the best-articulated skulls ever found in the Judith River Formation.  It is on display in the Dinosaur Field Station in Malta, Montana. This particular Brachylophosurus, known as specimen JRF 115H or “Leonardo”, is referred to as the mummy dinosaur, named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘world’s best-preserved dinosaur.’ Brachylophosurus was an herbivore who lived around 81 million years ago in western North America. Adults could grow to 36 feet in length, weighing nearly eight tons. Skeletons and bone beds have been discovered in Montana, South Dakota, Utah, and Alberta.  Remains of these duckbilled dinosaurs are abundant and include eggs, hatchlings, and juveniles.  Other fossil records exist as footprints, trackways and skin impressions.
4. Stygimoloch “Demon from the River Styx” 2.50″ x 1.5″ x 1.5″ $175	Stygimoloch was a relative of Pachycephalosaurus. This bipedal herbivore lived in western North America during the late Cretaceous Period (around 65 million years ago).  Because we have yet to discover more than a few fossilized skeletal remains of Stygimoloch, it is difficult to estimate its size and weight.  It is thought that adults were perhaps 10 to 11 feet long, and weighed up to several hundred pounds. This sculpture is modeled from the first skull fragments ever discovered, found in the Hell Creek Formation. The skull is exhibited nearby in the Garfield County Museum in Jordan, Montana.  Another modeled version is was displayed in the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum in Glendive, Montana.
5. Parasaurolophus “Side-ridged Lizard” 4″ x 1.5″ x 1.25″ $175	This sculpture was modeled from a skull cast on exhibit at the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum in Glendive, Montana. Parasaurolophus was a toothless, beaked, duckbilled hadrosaur with a distinctive head crest. The bony, tubular crest extended back from the top of its head. Many scientists believe the crest, containing a labyrinth of air cavities and shaped something like a trombone, might have been used to produce distinctive sounds. Each Parasaurolophus probably had a voice that was distinctive enough to distinguish it not only from other dinosaurs, but also from other Parasaurolophuses. Parasaurolophus was an herbivore; it lived in western North America during the late Cretaceous period, about 76 to 66 million years ago.  Its fossils have been discovered in New Mexico, Utah, Montana, and Alberta, Canada.  It is estimated that Parasaurolophus could grow to 30 feet in length and weigh nearly three tons.  All hadrosaurids were able to get around either on two legs or four. They probably preferred to forage for food on four legs, but could stand up on their broad, three-toed back feet to run.
6. Ankylosaurus “Fused (or Bent) Lizard” 2.25″ x 1.25″ x 2.25″ $175	Ankylosaurus lived in Western North America between 68 and 66 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.  Fossils have been discovered in Montana and Wyoming in the US, and in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. Interestingly, all skeletons ever found were deposited in sediment upside-down. Ankylosaurus is the largest known member of the Ankylosauridae family, growing to a length of over 33 feet and weighing between 5.8 and 8.8 tons.  It was a short, barrel shaped dinosaur with a broad skull; it wielded a 16-inch-wide bony club on the end of its tail. Four short spikes sheathed with horn protected the back of the head while the neck, body, and the base of its tail were strengthened by bands of bone studs, spikes, and large, rigid, horny plates. This skull was modeled from a partial skull-cast on exhibit at the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum in Glendive, Montana.
7. Deinonychus “Terrible Claw” 2″ x 1″ x 1″ $225	This small but fear-inspiring carnivore of the Early Cretaceous period (115-108 million years ago) was heavily armed and agile.  It had a relatively large brain, backward-curving, bladelike teeth, and large claws on its “hands” (manus) and feet. The unusually large, swiveling, razor sharp claw on its second toe could probably be retracted to avoid blunting the claw tip. Deinonychus matured to a length of around 10 feet, weighed between 130 and 160 pounds, and stood about six feet tall.  A group of four Deinonychus were found in southern Montana with a larger herbivore Tenontosaurus, leading to theories that Deinonychus hunted in packs as wolves do, in order to bring down creatures several times their size. Deinonychus fossils have been found in Montana, Wyoming, and Oklahoma.  They are closely related to the Velociraptor made famous in the movie Jurassic Park.
8. Corythosaurus “Helmet Lizard” 2.5″ x 2.5″ x 1.25″ $175	Corythosaurus was a duckbilled hadrosaur with a distinctive hollow crest. It could have produced a loud, low, resonating, trumpeting sound when air was forced from the windpipe up into the crest, out through the two side pockets, and then through the nostrils. Corythosaurus was an herbivore.  Its flexed or “hunched” spine at the shoulders suggested that it fed mainly on low growing plants. It tore off leaves with its horny beak, stored them in cheek pouches, then ground them with rows of strong, interlocking teeth.  Corythosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous period (76-74 million years ago) in western North America, where it could grow as large as 25-30 feet long, weighing 3.4 to 5.5 tons.  Fossils have been discovered in Wyoming and Montana, and Alberta, Canada.
9. Brachiosaurus “Arm Lizard” 3″ x 2.5″ x 1.25″ $275	Brachiosaurus was one of the largest, tallest, and heaviest dinosaurs.  It lived in North America during the Late Jurassic period, about 154-150 million years ago.  Brachiosaurus fossils have been found only in the Morrison Formation in Colorado and Wyoming. This giant sauropod stood as tall as 72 feet with body mass estimated to be up to 52 tons. Compared to other sauropods, its head was relatively small and its tail was relatively short.  Nostrils directly above the eye sockets were a distinctive characteristic of sauropods.
10. Dilophosaurus “Two-Crested Lizard” 2.25″ x 1.75″ x 1″ $225	Dilophosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in North America and China during the early Jurassic period around 186 million years ago.  It was a light-weight, slender-framed dinosaur with a very long tail and two parallel, paper-thin bony ridges on its head.  The function of these is unknown.  Dilophosaurus would have been fast and agile, doubtless a very good hunter. Scientists theorize that Dilophosaurus may have travelled in herds or family groups and hunted in packs. Adults would typically grow to be about 20 feet long, six feet tall and weigh 900 pounds.