''Ferganocephale'' is a dubious genus of

neornithischian Neornithischia ("new ornithischians") is a clade of the dinosaur order Ornithischia. It is the sister group of the Thyreophora within the clade Genasauria. Neornithischians are united by having a thicker layer of asymmetrical enamel on the insi ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

. It was from the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...

Balabansai Svita of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

and only species is ''F. adenticulatum''.

Classification

''Ferganocephale'' was originally classified in the group

Pachycephalosauridae Pachycephalosauria (; from Greek παχυκεφαλόσαυρος for 'thick headed lizards') is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs. Along with Ceratopsia, it makes up the clade Marginocephalia. With the exception of two species, most pachycepha ...

. It would then be one of the oldest known pachycephalosaurids. Robert M. Sullivan however, in 2006 disputed the pachycephalosaur classification, finding "few of the features ..are characteristic of pachycephalosaur teeth," citing the lack of serrations on the teeth, and concluding the specimens are "too incomplete for identification". He considers the

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

'', and a non-pachycephalosaurid ornithischian. In 2024, a comprehensive analysis of early ornithischian evolution found ''Ferganocephale'' to be most similar to Chaoyangsauridae in overall morphology but refrained from referring it to this clade based on its lack of denticles and strength of the cingulum. The authors of this analysis instead considered it an indeterminate member of Saphornithischia.

Discovery and naming

The type species, ''Ferganocephale adenticulatum'', was first described by Averianov, Martin, and Bakirov in 2005, and is based solely on teeth from the Balabansai Svita in

Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Encompassing three former Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics, the valley is e ...

, dating to the

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 165.3 ± 1.1 Ma (million years ago) and 161.5 ± 1.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

is ZIN PH 34/42, an adult unworn tooth. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''Ferganocephale adenticulatum''. The genus name combines the name of location it was found with the Greek ''kephale'', "head", a reference to the presumed pachycephalosaurian affinities. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

means "without tooth serrations".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q136999 Ornithischia Dinosaur genera Callovian dinosaurs Fossil taxa described in 2005 Dinosaurs of Asia

Classification

Discovery and naming

See also

References