Stenopelix

Stenopelix (meaning "narrow pelvis") is a genus of small marginocephalian dinosaur, possibly a basal ceratopsian, from the Early Cretaceous of Germany. It lived in the late Berriasian Stage of the Cretaceous period, approximately 140 myr ago. The genus is based on a partial skeleton lacking the skull, and its classification is based on characteristics of the hips. Discovery and species In 1855, in a sandstone quarry near Bückeburg on the Harrl, a fossil was found of a small dinosaur. Most of its bones were in a poor condition and removed on preparation, leaving two sets of hollow impressions on the plate and counterplate. The two plates do not overlap completely. The hollows, serving as a natural mold, have since been used to produce several casts in gypsum and latex to facilitate the study of the specimen. It was originally part of the collection of Max Ballerstedt preserved in the Bückeburg Gymnasium Adolfinum but was in 1976 moved to the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen where it now resides in the collection of the Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universität Göttingen. In 1857, based on this fossil, Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer named the type species Stenopelix valdensis. The generic name is derived from Greek stenos, "narrow", and pelyx, "pelvis". The specific name refers to the Wealden Formation. The holotype, GZG 741/2 (earlier GPI 741-1, 2), found in the Obernkirchen Sandstein Formation, consists of the impressions of an almost complete skeleton, lacking the skull and the neck.