Cephalonomancy

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Cephalonomancy (also known as cephaleonomancy or kephalonomancy) is an ancient form of divination which used two different methods; one was concerned with the shape of the skull, somewhat like extispicy or phrenology. The other involved heating the skull of a donkey [1] or goat [2] while reciting various phrases, often the names of criminal suspects. [3] If the skull crackled or the jaw moved while a name was spoken, this was taken to identify the guilty party. [3]

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<i>Pteranodon</i> Genus of pteranodontid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous

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<i>Quaesitosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Quaesitosaurus is a genus of nemegtosaurid sauropod containing only the type species, Q. orientalis, described in 1983. It lived from 72 to 71 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous epoch in the Barun Goyot Formation. With long, low and horse-like with frontally located peg-teeth, the skull of Quaesitosaurus is similar enough to the skull of Diplodocus and its kin to have prompted informed speculation that the missing body was built like those of diplodocids.

<i>Psittacosaurus</i> Early Cretaceous dinosaur genus

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Proceratosaurus is a genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of England. It contains a single species. P. bradleyi, known from a mostly complete skull and lower jaws. Proceratosaurus was a small dinosaur, estimated to measure 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) in length and 50–100 kg (110–220 lb) in body mass. Its name refers to how it was originally thought to be an ancestor of Ceratosaurus, due to the partially preserved portion of the crest of Proceratosaurus superficially resembling the small crest of Ceratosaurus. Now, however, it is considered a coelurosaur, specifically a member of the family Proceratosauridae, and amongst the earliest known members of the clade Tyrannosauroidea.

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Brontosaurus is a genus of gigantic quadruped sauropod dinosaurs. Although the type species, B. excelsus, had long been considered a species of the closely related Apatosaurus and therefore invalid, researchers proposed in 2015 that Brontosaurus is a genus separate from Apatosaurus and that it contains three species: B. excelsus, B. yahnahpin, and B. parvus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorick</span> Character in Hamlet

Yorick is a character in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. He is the dead court jester whose skull is exhumed by the First Gravedigger in Act 5, Scene 1, of the play. The sight of Yorick's skull evokes a reminiscence by Prince Hamlet of the man, who apparently played a role during Hamlet's upbringing:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes now? Your gambols? Your songs? Your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?

<i>Nigersaurus</i> Genus of reptiles (fossil)

Nigersaurus is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in Niger. Fossils of this dinosaur were first described in 1976, but it was only named Nigersaurus taqueti in 1999, after further and more complete remains were found and described. The genus name means "Niger reptile", and the specific name honours the palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who discovered the first remains.

<i>Zanabazar junior</i> Extinct species of dinosaur

Zanabazar is a genus of large troodontid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. The genus was originally named by Rinchen Barsbold as the new species Saurornithoides junior. In 2009 it was reclassified as its own genus and species, Zanabazar junior, named after the first spiritual figurehead of Tibetan buddhism, Zanabazar. The holotype includes a skull, vertebrae, and right hindlimb. Zanabazar was one of the largest and most derived troodontids.

References

  1. Bennett, Catherine (February 16, 1995). "Well, you can never tell". The Guardian. pp. T2.
  2. Kelly, Stuart (July 29, 2007). "Words of wisdom". Scotland on Sunday. p. 4.
  3. 1 2 "Kephalonomancy". The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Vol. 10. Harper Collins. p. 357.