Our discovery in 2020 of the dome from a rare dinosaur was very exciting. From the moment we removed the fossil from the wall of the coulee, we knew it was something we had never seen in the field before.
 
Cary Woodruff, a Ph.D. student from the University of Toronto, was joining us that evening at the Garfield Motel. He immediately identified it as Sphaerotholus buchholtzae. A rare and somewhat controversial member of pachycephalosaurs. 
 
Coincidentally, Cary was researching material to determine if Sphaerotholus buchholtzae is indeed its own species. We arranged for Cary to receive the specimen and include it in his research. Our find ultimately helped identify Sphaerotholus buchholtzae as a separate species. 
 
Our specimen (referenced as UWBM 89701 in the publication) is the 22nd ever found from this species, and in Cary's words:

"Thanks again for letting us include the Sphaero y'all found last summer, which is hands down the largest S. buchholtzae ever found!"

Here's a link to the article. Look for our recognition in the Acknowledgements section. Enjoy!







*The specimen ultimately goes to one of our federal repositories, the University of Washington's Burke Museum. Therefore, the official loan to the author includes their accession number
UWBM 89701.