Dracorex

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* Evolution 2
* Evolution

***Dracorex*** is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur in the *Jurassic World Evolution* series, originating from Late Cretaceous North America.

In *Evolution*, *Dracorex* is first unlocked by the Hammond Foundation upon completion of the Entertainment Division mission on Isla Matanceros.

## Characteristics

Notable for its large horns and ridged skull, *Dracorex* is a herbivore from the pachycephalosaur family that once lived in North America. In fact, this dinosaur’s appearance gives a clue to its name; the English translation of *Dracorex's* name means "*Dragon King*", because of the crown-like bony forms on its dragon-like skull. The only species in the genus is "*Dracorex hogwartsia*", named after the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. *Dracorex* was approximately 3.5 meters in length and weighed in at over 1,300lbs, with an armored skull that protected it from predators. There is some discussion as to whether *Dracorex* and the very similar *Stygimoloch* are actually earlier growth stages for the Pachycephalosaurus. The base genome of *Dracorex* is tan-brown colour, with black stripes on the legs and on the midsection and has a lighter white underbelly, similar to a Thomson's gazelle.

## Gameplay

### *Evolution*

#### Behaviour

*Dracorex* lives in small groups of around four individuals. They don't like a crowded exhibit, but are relatively unfussy with how much forest and grassland is inside their enclosure. *Dracorex* can prove to be a challenge to contain in early parks as many players don't realize that its base social requirement requires a pair of them at the minimum, therefore the *Dracorex* breaks out as its comfort level becomes too low. It is therefore always best to wait until you have enough money to acquire two.

#### Skins

 NULL

 ALPINE

 ARID

 TAIGA

 VIVID

 WOODLAND

## Paleontology

The first remains for *Dracorex* were discovered in South Dakota's Hell Creek Formation in 2004, when three amateur paleontologists dug up a partial skull and other small fragments of bone. The trio donated the fossils to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, where it was officially named following a poll of children who visited the exhibition. So far only a skull and some skeleton fragments have been recovered.

Discovered in 2006, *Dracorex* was an exciting discovery at the time due to its unusual dragon-like appearance. The game's *Dracorex* species is *Dracorex hogwartsia,* which means "*Dragon King of Hogwarts*", named in honour of Hogwarts, a school of witchcraft and wizardry from the *Harry Potter* franchise. The name was decided by a group of visitors at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. The flathead was reminiscent of other pachycephalosaur species such as *Goyocephale*, *Homalocephale*, and *Wannanosaurus*. These dinosaurs were once grouped under the now-defunct homalocephalidae branch. *Dracorex* was later grouped together with *Stygimoloch* and *Pachycephalosaurus* under the Pachycephalosaurini tribe.

However, later study of the well-known *Stegoceras* found that younger members of this genus had flatter heads before growing the distinctive bony dome of the pachycephalosauridae. This discovery brought scrutiny to the validity of flat-headed genera and others such as *Stygimoloch*. Two papers from 2009 and 2016 argued that *Dracorex* and *Stygimoloch* were in fact immature growth stages of *Pachycephalosaurus,* despite advanced ossification in the *Dracorex* holotype's vertebrae showing that it was almost fully grown. The debate still persists.

### Paleoecology

*Dracorex* lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous period approximately 65-70 million years ago, alongside many other Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, including its larger relative *Pachycephalosaurus* in addition to the hadrosaur *Edmontosaurus*, the ceratopsians *Triceratops* and *Torosaurus*, the armored *Ankylosaurus*, the ornithomimid *Struthiomimus*, as well as the theropods *Troodon* and *Tyrannosaurus*.

## Behind the scenes

Dracorex was first revealed to be in *Jurassic World Evolution* in an *IGN First Developer Diary* on May 11, 2018.

## References

1. ↑ Frontier Developments. (May 12, 2018). *Dev Diary: Welcome to Jurassic World* [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.