So it has occurred to scientists that “Dracorex hogwartsia” may be as fictional as a Blast-Ended Skrewt.

These dinosaurs were not separate species, as some paleontologists claim, but different growth stages of previously named dinosaurs, according to a new study. The confusion is traced to their bizarre head ornaments, ranging from shields and domes to horns and spikes, which changed dramatically with age and sexual maturity, making the heads of youngsters look very different from those of adults.

“Juveniles and adults of these dinosaurs look very, very different from adults, and literally may resemble a different species,” said dinosaur expert Mark B. Goodwin, assistant director of UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology. “But some scientists are confusing morphological differences at different growth stages with characteristics that are taxonomically important. The result is an inflated number of dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous.”

As Twiend @MattStaggs says:

First they came for the Pluto, and I said nothing because I wasn’t a planetoid. Then they came for the dinosaurs…

This change in knowledge of the facts seeks to destroy the monsters we once knew.

(via @mattstaggs, Io9, science daily)