Smithsonian to display rare and ‘remarkable’ dinosaur skull that was unearthed in South Dakota

The Pachycephalosaurus skull belonged to a dinosaur with a domed-shaped head that lived around 67 million years ago

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History says it will display a rare and “remarkable” dinosaur skull that was unearthed in South Dakota.

The well-preserved Pachycephalosaurus skull was found in rocks of the Hell Creek Formation in 2024. The dinosaur, known for its domed-shaped head, walked the earth around 67 million years ago.

“This skull is by far the most spectacular specimen of this type of dinosaur that we have at the museum,” paleontologist Matthew Carrano, the museum’s curator of Dinosauria, said in a statement. “We almost never get to see the animal’s face or the teeth or other parts of the head because they usually have broken away.”

The fossil contains 32 different cranial bones and many of the dinosaur’s teeth, including some teeth that were still growing in its jaws. The dinosaur’s scientific name means “thick-headed lizard.”

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History says it will display a rare and 'remarkable' dinosaur skull that was unearthed in South Dakota (Smithsonian Institution/James D. Tiller and Phillip R. Lee)

'This skull is by far the most spectacular specimen of this type of dinosaur that we have at the museum,' paleontologist Matthew Carrano, the museum’s curator of Dinosauria, said (Smithsonian Institution/James D. Tiller)

“This animal has eyes that blink and makes snarfling noises with its nose,” Carrano told The Washington Post. The paleontologist said the dinosaur would’ve had the brain development “somewhere between an alligator and an emu.”

Finding a Pachycephalosaurus fossil in Hell Creek is rare as its bones account for less than 1 percent of fossils found in the formation.

The marvelous fossil was purchased at the Sotheby's Natural History auction earlier this year by philanthropists Wendy Schmidt and Eric Schmidt, who was the CEO of Google in the early 2000s. The Schmidts then gifted the fossil to the Washington, D.C.-based Smithsonian, along with a donation to support digitization efforts of the National Fossil Collection.

The well-preserved Pachycephalosaurus skull was found in rocks of the Hell Creek Formation in 2024 (Smithsonian Institution/James D. Tiller and Phillip R. Lee)

“When we see an ancient fossil like this one, we are confronted with the story of our planet’s past and can consider how humans fit into Earth’s geologic history in a profoundly different way,” Wendy Schmidt said.

She continued: “Eric and I hope the digitization project and this rare Pachycephalosaurus skull will provide access to these fossils to anyone, anywhere in the world, and will offer insights into our brief role in our planet’s story of life.”

The dinosaur skull will be temporarily on display in the museum’s FossiLab in an exhibit named the “David H. Koch Hall of Fossils—Deep Time” from December 22 to 28. The museum will be closed on Christmas Day. The Smithsonian will incorporate the fossil permanently in the coming years.