text:
Stegoceras

Stegoceras is a genus of pachycephalosaurid (dome-headed) dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 77.5 to 74 million years ago (mya). The first specimens from Alberta, Canada, were described in 1902, and the type species Stegoceras validum was based on these remains. The generic name means "horn roof", and the specific name means "strong". Several other species have been placed in the genus over the years, but these have since been moved to other genera or deemed junior synonyms. Currently only S. validum and S. novomexicanum, named in 2011 from fossils found in New Mexico, remain. The validity of the latter species has also been debated.

Stegoceras was a small, bipedal dinosaur about 2 to 2.5 m long, and weighed around 10 to 40 kg. The skull was roughly triangular with a short snout, and had a thick, broad, and relatively smooth dome on the top. The back of the skull had a thick "shelf" over the occiput, and it had a thick ridge over the eyes. Much of the skull was ornamented by tubercles (or round "outgrowths") and nodes (or "knobs"), many in rows, and the largest formed small horns on the shelf. The teeth were small and serrated. The skull is thought to have been flat in juvenile animals and to have grown into a dome with age. It had a rigid vertebral column, and a stiffened tail. The pelvic region was broad, perhaps due to an extended gut.

Originally known only from skull domes, Stegoceras was one of the first known pachycephalosaurs, and the incompleteness of these initial remains led to many theories about the affinities of this group. A complete Stegoceras skull with associated parts of the skeleton was described in 1924, which shed more light on these animals. Pachycephalosaurs are today grouped with the horned ceratopsians in the group Marginocephalia. Stegoceras itself has been considered basal (or "primitive") compared to other pachycephalosaurs. Stegoceras was most likely herbivorous, and it probably had a good sense of smell. The function of the dome has been debated, and competing theories include use in intra-specific combat (head or flank-butting), sexual display, or species recognition. S. validum is known from the Dinosaur Park Formation and the Oldman Formation, whereas S. novomexicanum is from the Fruitland and Kirtland Formation.

History of discovery
The first known remains of Stegoceras were collected by Canadian palaeontologist Lawrence Lambe from the Belly River Group, in the Red Deer River district of Alberta, Canada. These remains consisted of two partial skull domes (specimens CMN 515 and CMN 1423 in the Canadian Museum of Nature) from two animals of different sizes collected in 1898, and a third partial dome (CMN 1594) collected in 1901. Based on these specimens, Lambe described and named the new monotypic genus and species Stegoceras validus in 1902. The generic name Stegoceras comes from the Greek stegè/στέγη, meaning "roof" and keras/κέρας meaning "horn". The specific name validus means "strong" in Latin, possibly in reference to the thick skull-roof. Because the species was based on multiple specimens (a syntype series), CMN 515 was designated as the lectotype specimen by John Bell Hatcher in 1907.

As no similar remains had been found in the area before, Lambe was unsure of what kind of dinosaur they were, and whether they represented one species or more; he suggested the domes were "prenasals" situated before the nasal bones on the midline of the head, and noted their similarity to the nasal horn-core of a Triceratops specimen. In 1903, Hungarian palaeontologist Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás suggested that the fragmentary domes of Stegoceras were in fact frontal and nasal bones, and that the animal would therefore have had a single, unpaired horn. Lambe was sympathetic to this idea of a new type of "unicorn dinosaur" in a 1903 review of Nopscsa's paper. At this time, there was still uncertainty over which group of dinosaur Stegoceras belonged to, with both ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) and stegosaurs (plated dinosaurs) as contenders. Hatcher doubted whether the Stegoceras specimens belonged to the same species and whether they were dinosaurs at all, and suggested the domes consisted of the frontal, occipital, and parietal bones of the skull. In 1918, Lambe referred another dome (CMN 138) to S. validus, and named a new species, S. brevis, based on specimen CMN 1423 (which he originally included in S. validus). By this time, he considered these animals as members of Stegosauria (then composed of both families of armoured dinosaurs, Stegosauridae and Ankylosauridae), in a new family he called Psalisauridae (named for the vaulted or dome-shaped skull roof).

In 1924, the American palaeontologist Charles W. Gilmore described a complete skull of S. validus with associated postcranial remains, by then the most complete remains of a dome-headed dinosaur. It was discovered in the Belly River Group by the American palaeontologist George F. Sternberg in 1926, and catalogued as specimen UALVP 2 in the University of Alberta Laboratory for Vertebrate Palaeontology. This find confirmed Hatcher's interpretation of the domes as consisting of the frontoparietal area of the skull. UALVP 2 was found with small, disarticulated bony elements, then thought to be gastralia (abdominal ribs), which are not known in other ornithischian dinosaurs (one of the two main groups of dinosaurs). Gilmore pointed out that the teeth of S. validus were very similar to those of the species Troodon formosus (named in 1856 and by then only known from isolated teeth), and described a skull dome discovered close to the locality where Troodon was found. Therefore, Gilmore considered Stegoceras an invalid junior synonym of Troodon, thereby renaming S. validus into T. validus, and suggested that even the two species might be the same. Furthermore, he found S. brevis to be identical to S. validus, and therefore a junior synonym of the latter. He also placed these species in the new family Troodontidae (since Lambe had not selected a type genus for his Psalisauridae), which he considered closest to the ornithopod dinosaurs. Because the skull seemed so specialized compared to the rather "primitive"-looking skeleton, Nopcsa doubted whether these parts actually belonged together, and suggested the skull belonged to a nodosaur, the skeleton to an ornithopod, and the supposed gastralia (belly ribs) to a fish. This claim was rebutted by Gilmore and Loris S. Russell in the 1930s.

Gilmore's classification was supported by the American palaeontologists Barnum Brown and Erich Maren Schlaikjer in their 1943 review of the dome-headed dinosaurs, by then known from 46 skulls. From these specimens, Brown and Schlaikjer named the new species T. sternbergi and T. edmontonensis (both from Alberta), as well as moving the large species T. wyomingensis (which was named in 1931) to the new genus Pachycephalosaurus, along with two other species. They found T. validus distinct from T. formosus, but considered S. brevis the female form of T. validus, and therefore a junior synonym. By this time, the dome-headed dinosaurs were either considered relatives of ornithopods or of ankylosaurs. In 1945, after examining casts of T. formosus and S. validus teeth, the American palaeontologist Charles M. Sternberg demonstrated differences between the two, and instead suggested that Troodon was a theropod dinosaur, and that the dome-headed dinosaurs should be placed in their own family. Though Stegoceras was the first member of this family to be named, Sternberg named the group Pachycephalosauridae after the second genus, as he found that name (meaning "thick head lizard") more descriptive. He also considered T. sternbergi and T. edmontonensis members of Stegoceras, found S. brevis valid, and named a new species, S. lambei, based on a specimen formerly referred to S. validus. The split from Troodon was supported by Russell in 1948, who described a theropod dentary with teeth almost identical to those of T. formosus.

In 1953, Birger Bohlin named Troodon bexelli based on a parietal bone from China. In 1964, Oskar Kuhn considered this as an unequivocal species of Stegoceras; S. bexelli. In 1974, the Polish palaeontologists Teresa Maryańska and Halszka Osmólska concluded that the "gastralia" of Stegoceras were ossified tendons, after identifying such structures in the tail of the pachycephalosaur Homalocephale. In 1979, William Patrick Wall and Peter Galton named the new species Stegoceras browni, based on a flattened dome, formerly described as a female S. validus by Galton in 1971. The specific name honours Barnum Brown, who found the holotype specimen (specimen AMNH 5450 in the American Museum of Natural History) in Alberta. In 1983, Galton and Hans-Dieter Sues moved S. browni to its own genus, Ornatotholus (ornatus is Latin for "adorned" and tholus for "dome"), and considered it the first known American member of a group of "flat-headed" pachycephalosaurs, previously known from Asia. In a 1987 review of the pachycephalosaurs, Sues and Galton emended the specific name validus to validum, which has subsequently been used in the scientific literature. These authors synonymized S. brevis, S. sternbergi, and S. lambei with S. validum, found that S. bexelli differed from Stegoceras in several features, and considered it an indeterminate pachycephalosaur. In 1998, Goodwin and colleagues considered Ornatotholus a juvenile S. validum, therefore a junior synonym.

21st century developments
In 2000, Robert M. Sullivan referred S. edmontonensis and S. brevis to the genus Prenocephale (until then only known from the Mongolian species P. prenes), and found it more likely that S. bexelli belonged to Prenocephale than to Stegoceras, but considered it a nomen dubium (dubious name, without distinguishing characters) due to its incompleteness, and noted its holotype specimen appeared to be lost. In 2003, Thomas E. Williamson and Thomas Carr considered Ornatotholus a nomen dubium, or perhaps a juvenile Stegoceras. In a 2003 revision of Stegoceras, Sullivan agreed that Ornatotholus was a junior synonym of Stegoceras, moved S. lambei to the new genus Colepiocephale, and S. sternbergi to Hanssuesia. He stated that the genus Stegoceras had become a wastebasket taxon for small to medium-sized North American pachycephalosaurs until that point. By this time, dozens of specimens had been referred to S. validum, including many domes too incomplete to be identified as Stegoceras with certainty. UALVP 2 is still the most complete specimen of Stegoceras, upon which most scientific understanding of the genus is based. S. brevis was moved to the new genus Foraminacephale in 2016 by Ryan K. Schott Schott and David C. Evans, and S. bexelli to Sinocephale in 2021 by Evans and colleagues. In 2023, Aaron D. Dyer and colleagues analysed sutures and individual elements in the skulls of the pachycephalosaurs Gravitholus and Hanssuesia, and found no significant distinction between them and Stegoceras validum. They considered both as junior synonyms, with Gravitholus representing the end-stage in the growth of Stegoceras.

In 2002, Williamson and Carr described a dome (specimen NMMNH P-33983 in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science) from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, which they considered a juvenile pachycephalosaur of uncertain species (though perhaps Sphaerotholus goodwini). In 2006, Sullivan and Spencer G. Lucas considered it a juvenile S. validum, which would expand the range of the species considerably. In 2011, Steven E. Jasinski and Sullivan considered the specimen an adult, and made it the holotype of the new species Stegoceras novomexicanum, with two other specimens (SMP VP-2555 and SMP VP-2790) as paratypes. A 2011 phylogenetic analysis by Watabe and colleagues did not place the two Stegoceras species close to each other.

In 2016, Williamson and Stephen L. Brusatte restudied the holotype of S. novomexicanum and found that the paratypes did not belong to the same taxon as the holotype, and that all the involved specimens were juveniles. Furthermore, they were unable to determine whether the holotype specimen represented the distinct species S. novomexicanum, or if it was a juvenile of either S. validum or Sphaerotholus goodwini, or another previously known pachycephalosaur. In 2016, Jasinski and Sullivan defended the validity of S. novomexicanum; they agreed that some features used to diagnose the species were indicative of a sub-adult stage, but presented additional diagnostic features in the holotype that distinguish the species. They also pointed out some adult features, which may indicate heterochrony (difference in timing of ontogenetic changes between related taxa) in the species. They conceded that the paratypes and other assigned specimens differed from the holotype in having more highly domed skulls, instead referring to them as cf. S. novomexicanum (difficult to identify), but found it likely they all belonged to the same taxon (with the assigned specimens being adults), due to the restricted stratigraphic interval and geographic range. Dyer and colleagues found that the S. novomexicanum holotype could be an immature Sphaerotholus, and therefore a junior synonym in 2023.

Description
Stegoceras is one of the most completely known North American pachycephalosaurs, and one of the few known from postcranial remains; S. validum specimen UALVP 2 is the most complete Stegoceras individual known to date. Its length is estimated to have been about 2 to 2.5 m, comparable to the size of a goat. The weight has been estimated to be about 10 to 40 kg. Stegoceras was small to medium in size compared to other pachycephalosaurs. S. novomexicanum appears to have been smaller than S. validum, but it is disputed whether the known specimens (incomplete skulls) are adults or juveniles.

Skull and dentition
The skull of Stegoceras was roughly triangular in shape when viewed from the side, with a relatively short snout. The frontal and parietal bones were very thick and formed an elevated dome. The suture between these two elements was obliterated (only faintly visible in some specimens), and they are collectively termed the "frontoparietal". The frontoparietal dome was broad and had a relatively smooth surface, with only the sides being rugose (wrinkled). It was narrowed above and between the orbita (eye sockets). The frontoparietal narrowed at the back, was wedged between the squamosal bones, and ended in a depression above the at the back of the skull. The parietal and squamosal bones formed a thick shelf over the occiput termed the parietosquamosal shelf, whose extent varied between specimens. The squamosal was large, not part of the dome, and the back part was swollen. It was ornamented by irregularly spaced tubercles (or round outgrowths), and a row of nodes (knobs) extended along its upper edges, ending in a pointed tubercle (or small horn) on each side at the back of the skull. An inner row of smaller tubercles ran parallel with the larger one. Except for the upper surface of the dome, much of the skull was ornamented with nodes, many arranged in rows.

The large orbit was shaped like an imperfect ellipse (with the longest axis from front to back), and faced to the side and slightly forward. The infratemporal fenestra (opening) behind the eye was narrow and sloped backwards, and the supratemporal fenestra on the top back of the skull was very reduced in size, due to the thickening of the frontoparietal. The (floor of the ) was shortened and distanced from the regions below the orbits and around the palate. The occiput sloped backwards and down, and the occipital condyle was deflected in the same direction. The lacrimal bone formed the lower front margin of the orbit, and its surface had rows of node-like ornamentation. The prefrontal and palpebral bones were fused and formed a thick ridge above the orbit. The relatively large jugal bone formed the lower margin of the orbit, extending far forwards and down towards the jaw joint. It was ornamented with ridges and nodes in a radiating arrangement.

The nasal openings were large and faced frontwards. The nasal bone was thick, heavily sculpted, and had a convex profile. It formed a boss (shield) on the middle top of the skull together with the frontal bone. The lower front of the premaxilla (front bone of the upper jaw) was rugose and thickened. A small foramen (hole) was present in the suture between the premaxillae, leading into the nasal cavity, and possibly connected to the Jacobson's organ (an olfactory sense organ). The maxilla was short and deep, and probably contained a sinus. The maxilla had a series of foramina that corresponded with each tooth position there, and these functioned as passages for erupting replacement teeth. The mandible articulated with the skull below the back of the orbit. The tooth-bearing part of the lower jaw was long, with the part behind being rather short. Though not preserved, the presence of a predentary bone is indicated by facets at the front of the lower jaw. Like other pachycephalosaurs, it would have had a small beak.

Stegoceras had teeth that were heterodont (differentiated) and (placed in sockets). It had marginal rows of relatively small teeth, and the rows did not form a straight cutting edge. The teeth were set obliquely along the length of the jaws, and overlapped each other slightly from front to back. On each side, the most complete specimen (UALVP 2) had three teeth in the premaxilla, sixteen in the maxilla (both part of the upper jaw), and seventeen in the dentary of the lower jaw. The teeth in the premaxilla were separated from those behind in the maxilla by a short diastema (space), and the two rows in the premaxilla were separated by a toothless gap at the front. The teeth in the front part of the upper jaw (premaxilla) and front lower jaw were similar; these had taller, more pointed and recurved crowns, and a "heel" at the back. The front teeth in the lower jaw were larger than those of the upper jaw. The front edges of the crowns bore eight denticles (serrations), and the back edge bore nine to eleven. The teeth in the back of the upper (maxilla) and lower jaw were triangular in side view and compressed in front view. They had long roots that were oval in section, and the crowns had a marked at their bases. The denticles here were compressed and directed towards the top of the crowns. Both the outer and inner side of the tooth crowns bore enamel, and both sides were divided vertically by a ridge. Each edge had about seven or eight denticles, with the front edge usually having the most.

The skull of Stegoceras can be distinguished from those of other pachycephalosaurs by features such as its pronounced parietosquamosal shelf (though this became smaller with age), the "incipient" doming of its frontopariental (though the doming increased with age), its inflated nasal bones, its ornamentation of tubercles on the sides and back of the squamosal bones, rows of up to six tubercles on the upper side of each squamosal, and up to two nodes on the backwards projection of the parietal. It is also distinct in its lack of nasal ornamentation, and in having a reduced diastema. The skull of S. novomexicanum can be distinguished from that of S. validum in features such as the backwards extension of the parietal bone being more reduced and triangular, having larger supratemporal fenestrae (though this may be due to the possible juvenile status of the specimens), and having roughly parallel suture contacts between the squamosal and parietal. It also appears to have had a smaller frontal boss than S. validum, and seems to have been more gracile overall.

Postcranial skeleton
The vertebral column of Stegoceras is incompletely known. The articulation between the zygagophyses (articular processes) of successive dorsal (back) vertebrae appears to have prevented sideways movement of the vertebral column, which made it very rigid, and it was further strengthened by. Though the neck vertebrae are not known, the downturned occipital condyle (which articulates with the first neck vertebra) indicates that the neck was held in a curved posture, like the "S"- or "U"-shape of most dinosaur necks. Based on their position in Homalocephale, the ossified tendons found with UALVP 2 would have formed an intricate "" in the tail, consisting of parallel rows, with the extremities of each tendon contacting the next successively. Such structures are called, and are otherwise only known in teleost fish; the feature is unique to pachycephalosaurs among tetrapod (four-limbed) animals, and may have functioned in stiffening the tail.

The scapula (shoulder blade) was longer than the humerus (upper arm bone); its blade was slender and narrow, and slightly twisted, following the contour of the ribs. The scapula did not expand at the upper end but was very expanded at the base. The coracoid was mainly thin and plate-like. The humerus had a slender shaft, was slightly twisted along its length, and was slightly bowed. The (where the deltoid and pectoral muscles attached) was weakly developed. The ends of the ulna were expanded, and ridges extended along the shaft. The radius was more robust than the ulna, which is unusual. When seen from above, the pelvic girdle was very broad for a bipedal archosaur, and became wider towards the hind part. The broadness of the pelvic region may have accommodated a rear extension of the gut. The ilium was elongated and the ischium was long and slender. Though the pubis is not known, it was probably reduced in size like that of Homalocephale. The femur (thigh bone) was slender and inwards curved, the tibia was slender and twisted, and the fibula was slender and wide at the upper end. The metatarsus of the foot appears to have been narrow, and the single known ungual (claw bone) of a toe was slender and slightly curved. Though the limbs of Stegoceras are not completely known, they were most likely like other pachycephalosaurs in having five-fingered hands and four toes.

Classification
During the 1970s, more pachycephalosaur genera were described from Asian fossils, which provided more information about the group. In 1974, Maryańska and Osmólska concluded that pachycephalosaurs are distinct enough to warrant their own suborder within Ornithischia, Pachycephalosauria. In 1978, the Chinese palaeontologist Dong Zhiming split Pachycephalosauria into two families; the dome-headed Pachycephalosauridae (including Stegoceras) and the flat-headed Homalocephalidae (originally spelled Homalocephaleridae). Wall and Galton did not find suborder status for the pachycephalosaurs justified in 1979. By the 1980s, the affinities of the pachycephalosaurs within Ornithischia were unresolved. The main competing views were that the group was closest to either ornithopods or ceratopsians, the latter view due to similarities between the skeleton of Stegoceras and the "primitive" ceratopsian Protoceratops. In 1986, American palaeontologist Paul Sereno supported the relationship between pachycephalosaurs and ceratopsians, and united them in the group Marginocephalia, based on similar cranial features, such as the "shelf"-structure above the occiput. He conceded that the evidence for this grouping was not overwhelming, but the validity of the group was supported by Sues and Galton in 1987.

By the early 21st century, few pachycephalosaur genera were known from postcranial remains, and many taxa were only known from domes, which made classification within the group difficult. Pachycephalosaurs are thus mainly defined by cranial features, such as the flat to domed frontoparietal, the broad and flattened bar along the postorbital and squamosal bones, and the squamosal bones being deep plates on the occiput. In 1986, Sereno had divided the pachycephalosaurs into different groups based on the extent of the doming of their skulls (grouped in now invalid taxa such as "Tholocephalidae" and "Domocephalinae"), and in 2000 he considered the "partially" domed Stegoceras a transition between the supposedly "primitive" flat-headed and advanced "fully" domed genera (such as Pachycephalosaurus). The dome-headed/flat-headed division of the pachycephalosaurs was abandoned in the following years, as flat heads were considered paedomorphic (juvenile-like) or derived traits in most revisions, but not a sexually dimorphic trait. In 2006, Sullivan argued against the idea that the extent of doming was useful in determining taxonomic affinities between pachycephalosaurs. In 2003, Sullivan found Stegoceras itself to be more basal (or "primitive") than the "fully-domed" members of the subfamily Pachycephalosaurinae, elaborating on conclusions reached by Sereno in 1986.

A 2013 phylogenetic analysis by Evans and colleagues found that some flat-headed pachycephalosaur genera were more closely related to "fully" domed taxa than to the "incompletely" domed Stegoceras, which suggests they represent juveniles of domed taxa, and that flat heads do not indicate taxonomic affinities. The cladogram below shows the placement of Stegoceras within Pachycephalosauridae according to Schott and colleagues, 2016:

The biogeography and early evolutionary history of pachycephalosaurs is poorly understood, and can only be clarified by new discoveries. Pachycephalosaurs appear abruptly in the fossil record, and are present in both North America and Asia, so it is unknown when they first originated, and from which direction they dispersed. The oldest known members of the group (such as Acrotholus) are "fully domed" and known from the Santonian stage of the Late Cretaceous period (about 84 million years ago). This is before the supposedly more primitive Stegoceras from the Middle Campanian (77 million years ago) and Homalocephale from the Early Maastrichtian (70 million years ago), so the doming of the skull may be a homoplastic trait (a form of convergent evolution). The late occurrence of pachycephalosaurs compared to the related ceratopsians indicates a long ghost lineage (inferred, but missing from the fossil record) spanning 66 million years, from the Late Jurassic to the Cretaceous. Since pachycephalosaurs were mainly small, this may be due to taphonomic bias; smaller animals are less likely to be preserved through fossilisation. More delicate bones are also less likely to be preserved, which is why pachycephalosaurs are mainly known from their robust skulls.

Feeding mechanics
It is uncertain what pachycephalosaurs ate; having very small, ridged teeth they could not have chewed tough, fibrous plants as effectively as other dinosaurs of the same period. It is assumed that their sharp, serrated teeth were ideally suited for a mixed diet of leaves, seeds, fruit and insects. Stegoceras may have had an entirely herbivorous diet, as the tooth crowns were similar to those of iguanid lizards. The premaxillary teeth show wear facets from contact with the predentary bone, and the maxillary teeth have double wear facets similar to those seen in other ornithischian dinosaurs. Every third maxillary tooth of UALVP 2 are erupting replacement teeth, and tooth replacement happened in backwards progression in sequential threes. The occipital region of Stegoceras was well-demarcated for muscle-attachment and it is believed that the jaw movement of Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs was mostly limited to up-and-down motions with only a slight capability for jaw rotation. This is based on the structure of the jaw and dental microwear and wear facets of the teeth indicate that the bite-force was used more for shearing than for crushing.

In 2021, the Canadian palaeontologist Michael N. Hudgins and colleagues examined the teeth of Stegoceras and Thescelosaurus and found that while both had heterodont teeth, they could be statistically distinguished from each other. Due to its broad rostrum and more uniform teeth, Stegoceras was an indiscriminate bulk-feeder that cropped large amounts of vegetation, while the teeth and narrow rostrum of Thescelosaurus indicates it was a selective feeder. Pachycephalosaurs and Thescelosaurids occur in the same North American formations, and it appears that their coexistence was made possible by them occupying different ecomorphospaces (though Stegoceras and Thescelosaurus themselves were not contemporaries).

Nasal passages
In 1989, Emily B. Griffin found that Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs had a good sense of smell (olfaction), based on the study of cranial endocasts that showed large olfactory bulbs in the brain. In 2014, Jason M. Bourke and colleagues found that Stegoceras would have needed cartilaginous nasal turbinates in the front of the nasal passages for airflow to reach the olfactory region. Evidence for the presence of this structure is a bony ridge to which it could have attached. The size of the olfactory region also indicates that Stegoceras had a keen sense of smell. The researchers found that the dinosaur could have had either a scroll-shaped turbinate (like in a turkey) or a branched one (as in an ostrich) as both could have directed air to the olfactory region. The blood vessel system in the passages also suggest that the turbinates served to cool down warm arterial blood from the body that was heading to the brain. The skull of S. validum specimen UALVP 2 was suited for a study of this kind due to its exceptional preservation; it has ossified soft tissue in the nasal cavity, which would otherwise be cartilaginous and therefore not preserved through mineralization.

Ontogenetic changes
Several explanations have historically been proposed for the variation seen in the skulls of Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs. Brown and Schlaikjer suggested that there was sexual dimorphism in the degree of doming, and hypothesized that flat-headed specimens such as AMNH 5450 (Ornatotholus) represented the female morph of Stegoceras. This idea was supported by a 1981 morphometric study by Champan and colleagues, which found that males had larger and thicker domes. After other flat-headed pachycephalosaurs were discovered, the degree of doming was proposed to be a feature with taxonomic importance, and AMNH 5450 was therefore considered a distinct taxon from 1979 onwards. In 1998, Goodwin and colleagues instead proposed that the inflation of the dome was an ontogenetic feature that changed with age, based on a histological study of an S. validum skull that showed the dome consisted of vascular, fast-growing bone, consistent with an increase in doming through age. These authors found that the supposedly distinct features of Ornatotholus could easily be the results of ontogeny. In 2003, Williamson and Carr published a hypothetical growth series of S. validum, showing Ornatotholus as the juvenile stage. They suggested that juveniles were characterized by a flat, thickened frontoparietal roof, with larger supratemporal fenestrae, and studded with closely spaced tubercles and nodes. The parietosquamosal shelf was not reduced in size, and the frontoparietal suture was open. Sub-adults had mound-like domes, with the back part of the parietal and skull-roof being flat. The supratemporal fenestrae showed asymmetry in size, and the closure of the frontoparietal suture was variable. The nodes were stretched or almost obliterated as the dome expanded during growth, with a tesserated surface remaining. The pattern was often obliterated at the highest point (apex) of the dome, the area where maximum expansion occurred. The tubercles on the skull were stretched in different directions, and those at the margin of the parietosquamosal shelf may have been hypertrophied (enlarged) tubercles. The back and sides of sub-adult and adult skulls were ornamented by less modified tubercles. Before being incorporated into the enlarging dome, the skull bones expanded, resulting in junctions between these bones. The adult dome was broad and convex, and incorporated most of the shelf, which was reduced in size and overhung the occiput as a thick "lip". The supratempooral fenestrae were closed, but the suture between the frontoparietal and connected skull bones was not always closed in adults and subadults.

In 2011, Schott and colleagues made a more comprehensive analysis of cranial dome ontogeny in S. validum. The study found that the parietosquamosal shelf conserved the arrangement of ornamentation throughout growth, and that vascularity of the frontoparietal domes decreased with size. It also found that dome shape and size was strongly correlated with growth, and that growth was allometric (in contrast to isometric) from flat to domed, supporting Ornatotholus as a juvenile Stegoceras. They also hypothesized that this model of dome growth, with dramatic changes from juvenile to adult, was the common developmental trajectory of pachycephalosaurs. These researchers noted that though Williamson and Carr's observation that the supratemporal fenestrae closed with age was generally correct, there was still a high degree of individual variation in the size of these fenestrae, regardless of the size of the frontoparietal, and this feature may therefore have been independent of ontogeny.

A 2012 study by Schott and Evans found that the number and shape of the individual nodes on the squamosal shelf of the examined S. validum skulls varied considerably, and that this variability does not seem to correlate with ontogenic changes, but was due to individual variation. These researchers found no correlation between the width of supratemporal fenestrae and the size of the squamosal.

Dome function
The function of pachycephalosaur domes has been debated, and Stegoceras has been used as a model for experimentation in various studies. The dome has mainly been interpreted as a weapon used in intra-specific combat, a sexual display structure, or a means for species recognition.

Combat
The hypothesis that the domed skulls of Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs were used for butting heads was first suggested by American palaeontologist Edwin Colbert in 1955. In 1970 and 1971, Galton elaborated on this idea, and argued that if the dome was simply ornamental, it would have been less dense, and that the structure was ideal for resisting force. Galton suggested that when Stegoceras held its skull vertically, perpendicular to the neck, force would be transmitted from the skull, with little chance of it being dislocated, and the dome could therefore be used as a battering-ram. He believed it was unlikely to have been used mainly as defence against predators, because the dome itself lacked spikes, and those of the parietosquamosal shelf were in an "ineffective" position, but found it compatible with intra-specific competition. Galton imagined the domes were bashed together, while the vertebral column was held in a horizontal position. This could either be done while facing each other while dealing blows, or while charging each other with lowered heads (analogous to modern sheep and goats). He also noted that the rigidity of the back would have been useful when using the head for this purpose. In 1978, Sues agreed with Galton that the anatomy of pachycephalosaurs was consistent with transmitting dome-to-dome impact stress, based on tests with plexi-glass models. The impact would be absorbed through the neck and body, and neck ligaments and muscles would prevent injuries by glancing blows (as in modern bighorn sheep). Sues also suggested that the animals could have butted each other's flanks.

In 1997, the American palaeontologist Kenneth Carpenter pointed out that the dorsal vertebrae from the back of the pachycephalosaur Homalocephale show that the back curved downwards just before the neck (which was not preserved), and unless the neck curved upwards, the head would point to the ground. He therefore inferred that the necks of Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs were held in a curved posture (as is the norm in dinosaurs), and that they would therefore not have been able to align their head, neck, and body horizontally straight, which would be needed to transmit stress. Their necks would have to be held below the level of the back, which would have risked damaging the spinal cord on impact. Modern bighorn sheep and bison overcome this problem by having strong ligaments from the neck to the tall neural spines over the shoulders (which absorb the force of impact), but such features are not known in pachycephalosaurs. These animals also absorb the force of impact through sinus chambers at the base of their horns, and their foreheads and horns form a broad contact surface, unlike the narrow surface of pachycephalosaur domes. Because the dome of Stegoceras was rounded, it would have given a very small area for potential impact, and the domes would have glanced off each other (unless the impact was perfectly centred). Combating pachycephalosaurs would have had difficulty seeing each other while their heads were lowered, due to the bony ridges above the eyes.

Because of the problems he found with the head-butting hypothesis, Carpenter instead suggested the domes were adaptations for flank-butting (as seen in some large African mammals); he imagined that two animals would stand parallel, facing each other or the same direction, and direct blows to the side of the opponent. The relatively large body width of pachycephalosaurs may consequently have served to protect vital organs from harm during flank-butting. It is possible that Stegoceras and similar pachycephalosaurs would have delivered the blows with a movement of the neck from the side and a rotation of the head. The upper sides of the dome have the greatest surface area, and may have been the point of impact. The thickness of the dome would have increased the power behind a blow to the sides, and this would ensure that the opponent felt the force of the impact, without being seriously injured. The bone rim above the orbit may have protected the aggressor's eye when making a blow. Carpenter suggested that the pachycephalosaurs would have first engaged in threat display by bobbing and presenting their heads to show the size of their domes (intimidation), and thereafter delivered blows to each other, until one opponent signalled submission.

In 2008, Eric Snively and Adam Cox tested the performance of 2D and 3D pachycephalosaur skulls through finite element analysis, and found that they could withstand considerable impact; greater vaulting of the domes allowed for higher forces of impact. They also considered it likely that pachycephalosaur domes were covered in keratin, a strong material that can withstand much energy without being permanently damaged (like the osteoderms of crocodilians), and therefore incorporated keratin into their test formula. In 2011, Snively and Jessica M. Theodor conducted a finite element analysis by simulating head-impacts with CT scanned skulls of S. validum (UALVP 2), Prenocephale prenes and several extant head-butting artiodactyls. They found that the correlations between head-striking and skull morphologies found in the living animals also existed in the studied pachycephalosaurs. Stegoceras and Prenocephale both had skull shapes similar to the bighorn sheep with cancellous bone protecting the brain. They also shared similarities in the distribution of compact and cancellous regions with the bighorn sheep, white-bellied duiker and the giraffe. The white-bellied duiker was found to be the closest morphological analogue to Stegoceras; this head-butting species has a dome which is smaller but similarly rounded. Stegoceras was better capable of dissipating force than artiodactyls that butt heads at high forces, but the less vascularized domes of older pachycephalosaurs, and possibly diminished ability to heal from injuries, argued against such combat in older individuals. The study also tested the effects of a keratinous covering of the dome, and found it to aid in performance. Though Stegoceras lacked the pneumatic sinuses that are found below the point of impact in the skulls of head-striking artiodactyls, it instead had vascular struts which could have similarly acted as braces, as well as conduits to feed the development of a keratin covering.

In 2012, Caleb M. Brown and Anthony P. Russell suggested that the stiffened tails were probably not used as defence against flank-butting, but may have enabled the animals to take a tripodal stance during intra-specific combat, with the tail as support. Brown and Russell found that the tail could thereby help in resisting compressive, tensile, and torsional loading when the animal delivered or received blows with the dome. A 2013 study by Joseph E. Peterson and colleagues identified lesions in skulls of Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs, which were interpreted as infections caused by trauma. Lesions were found on 22% of sampled pachycephalosaur skulls (a frequency consistent across genera), but were absent from flat-headed specimens (which have been interpreted as juveniles or females), which is consistent with use in intra-specific combat (for territory or mates). The distribution of lesions in these animals tended to concentrate at the top of the dome, which supports head-butting behaviour. Flank-butting would probably result in fewer injuries, which would instead be concentrated on the sides of the dome. These observations were made while comparing the lesions with those on the skulls and flanks of modern sheep skeletons. The researchers noted that modern head-butting animals use their weapons for both combat and display, and that pachycephalosaurs could therefore also have used their domes for both. Displaying a weapon and willingness to use it can be enough to settle disputes in some animals.

Bryan R. S. Moore and colleagues examined and reconstructed the limb musculature of Stegoceras in 3D in 2022, using the very complete UALVP 2 specimen as basis. They found that the musculature of the forelimbs was conservative, particularly compared to those of early bipedal saurischian dinosaurs, but the pelvic and hindlimb musculature was instead more derived (or "advanced"), due to peculiarities of the skeleton. These areas had large muscles, and combined with the wide pelvis and stout hind limbs (and possibly enlarged ligaments), this resulted in a strong, stable pelvic structure that would have helped during head-butting between individuals. Since the skull domes of pachycephalosaurs grew with positive allometry, and may have been used in combat, these researchers suggested it may have been the case for the hindlimb muscles as well, if they were used to propel the body forwards during head-butting. They cautioned that while UALVP 2 is very complete for a pachycephalosaur, their study was limited by it missing large portions of its vertebral column and outer limb elements.

Other suggested functions
In 1987, J. Keith Rigby and colleagues suggested that pachycephalosaur domes were heat-exchange organs used for thermoregulation, based on their internal "radiating structures" (trabeculae). This idea was supported by a few other writers in the mid-1990s. In 1998, Goodwin and colleagues considered the lack of sinuses in the skull of Stegoceras and the "honeycomb"-like network of vascular bone in the dome ill-suited for head-butting, and pointed out that the bones adjacent to the dome risked fracture during such contact. Building on the idea that the ossified tendons that stiffened the tails of Stegoceras and other pachycephalosaurs enabled them to take a tripodal stance (first suggested by Maryańska and Osmólska in 1974), Goodwin et al. suggested these structures could have protected the tail against flank-butting, or that the tail itself could have been used as a weapon. In 2004, Goodwin and colleagues studied the cranial histology of pachycephalosaurs, and found that the vascularity (including the trabeculae) of the domes decreased with age, which they found inconsistent with a function in either head-butting or heat-exchange. They also suggested that a dense layer of Sharpey's fibers near the surface of the dome indicated that it had an external covering in life, which makes it impossible to know the shape of the dome in a living animal. These researchers instead concluded that the domes were mainly for species recognition and communication (as in some African bovids) and that use in sexual display was only secondary. They further speculated that the external covering of the domes was brightly coloured in life, or may have changed colour seasonally.

In 2011, American palaeontologists Kevin Padian and John R. Horner proposed that "bizarre structures" in dinosaurs in general (including domes, frills, horns, and crests) were primarily used for species recognition, and dismissed other explanations as unsupported by evidence. Among other studies, these authors cited Goodwin et al.'s 2004 paper on pachycephalosaur domes as support of this idea, and they pointed out that such structures did not appear to be sexually dimorphic. In a response to Padian and Horner the same year, Rob J. Knell and Scott D. Sampson argued that species recognition was not unlikely as a secondary function for "bizarre structures" in dinosaurs, but that sexual selection (used in display or combat to compete for mates) was a more likely explanation, due to the high cost of developing them, and because such structures appear to be highly variable within species. In 2013, the British palaeontologists David E. Hone and Darren Naish criticized the "species recognition hypothesis", and argued that no extant animals use such structures primarily for species recognition, and that Padian and Horner had ignored the possibility of mutual sexual selection (where both sexes are ornamented).

In 2012, Schott and Evans suggested that the regularity in squamosal ornamentation throughout the ontogeny of Stegoceras was consistent with species recognition, but the change from flat to domed frontoparietals in late age suggests that the function of this feature changed through ontogeny, and was perhaps sexually selected, possibly for intra-specific combat. Dyer and colleagues found in 2023 that Stegoceras specimens differed in the thickness of the frontonasal boss, and that skulls with the most bone pathologies were those with the tallest bosses, which they considered indication that variation in boss thickness represents intersexual variation. In 2023, Horner and colleagues stated that since the dome and associated ornamentation of Stegoceras and the ornamentation of Pachycephalosaurus developed early in life, this indicates they were used for visual communication, so that juveniles could recognise other juveniles and adults other adults. They did not rule out that these features could have been used for other purposes, including head-butting, but did not consider trauma seen in specimens as evidence for this. They also suggested that features in some pachycephalosaurid skulls indicate the dome would have supported a greater, keratinous structure than just a cap.

Palaeoenvironment
S. validum is known from the late Late Cretaceous Belly River Group (the Canadian equivalent to the Judith River Group in the US), and specimens have been recovered from the Dinosaur Park Formation (late Campanian, 76.5 to 75 mya) in Dinosaur Provincial Park (including the lectotype specimen), and the Oldman Formation (middle Campanian, 77.5 to 76.5 mya) of Alberta, Canada. The pachycephalosaurs Hanssuesia (if not a synonym of Stegoceras) and Foraminacephale are also known from both formations. S. novomexicanum is known from the Fruitland (late Campanian, about 75 mya) and lower Kirtland Formation (late Campanian, about 74 mya) of New Mexico, and if this species correctly belongs in Stegoceras, the genus would have had a broad geographic distribution. The presence of similar pachycephalosaurs in both the west and north of North America during the latest Cretaceous shows that they were an important part of the dinosaur faunas there.

It has traditionally been suggested that pachycehalosaurs inhabited mountain environments; wear of their skulls was supposedly a result of them having been rolled by water from upland areas, and comparisons with bighorn sheep reinforced the theory. In 2014, Jordan C. Mallon and Evans disputed this idea, as the wear and original locations of the skulls is not consistent with having been transported in such a way, and they instead proposed that North American pachycephalosaurs inhabited alluvial (associated with water) and coastal plain environments.

The Dinosaur Park Formation is interpreted as a low-relief setting of rivers and floodplains that became more swampy and influenced by marine conditions over time as the Western Interior Seaway transgressed westward. The climate was warmer than present-day Alberta, without frost, but with wetter and drier seasons. Conifers were apparently the dominant canopy plants, with an understory of ferns, tree ferns, and angiosperms. Dinosaur Park is known for its diverse community of herbivores. As well as Stegoceras, the formation has also yielded fossils of the ceratopsians Centrosaurus, Styracosaurus and Chasmosaurus, the hadrosaurids Prosaurolophus, Lambeosaurus, Gryposaurus, Corythosaurus, and Parasaurolophus, and the ankylosaurs Edmontonia and Euoplocephalus. Theropods present include the tyrannosaurids Gorgosaurus and Daspletosaurus. Other dinosaurs known from the Oldman Formation include the hadrosaur Brachylophosaurus, the ceratopsians Coronosaurus and Albertaceratops, ornithomimids, therizinosaurs and possibly ankylosaurs. Theropods included troodontids, oviraptorosaurs, the dromaeosaurid Saurornitholestes and possibly an albertosaurine tyrannosaur.

title: Stegoceras


text: File:Bostwick-shazam-captmarv.jpg

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: File:Bostwick-shazam-captmarv.jpg


text:
Homalocephale

Homalocephale (from Greek ὁμαλός, homalos, "even", and κεφαλή, kephalē, "head") is a genus of pachycephalosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period of what is now the Nemegt Formation, Mongolia, about 70 million years ago. The genus was described in 1974 by Halszka Osmólska and Teresa Maryańska, and consists of a single species, H. calathocercos. Though Homalocephale has been regarded as a synonym (and juvenile form) of Prenocephale, juvenile specimens of the latter indicate that they were distinct. Homalocephale was 1.8 m long and possibly a omnivore.

Discovery
The type species, H. calathocercos, was described from an incomplete skull and postcranial material (holotype MPC-D 100/1201) from the Nemegt locality of the Nemegt Formation. The specimen has large openings on the top of the skull, a distinct frontoparietal suture, low and long infratemporal fenestrae, and a large, round eye socket. The forehead is notably rough, with multiple nodules on the lateral and posterior sides of the squamosal bone. Paleontologists concluded that the specimen was an adult, despite the fact that the sutures are discernible and that it had a flat skull (a juvenile trait in many pachycephalosaurid species).

In 2010, a study by Nick Longrich and colleagues suggested that flat-headed pachycephalosaurs were just juvenile forms of dome-headed adults, a view also supported by the earlier analysis of Horner and Goodwin in 2009. Longrich and colleagues suggested that Homalocephale is actually the juvenile or sub-adult stage of Prenocephale mainly based on the lack of a dome and being discovered in the same locality (Nemegt) as the latter.

David C. Evans and team in 2018 reported juvenile specimens of Prenocephale from the Nemegt Formation, noting a relatively linear growth in this pachycephalosaur characterized by a rounded dome. This differs from the flat skull of Homalocephale and given that even juvenile Prenocephale possessed a rather rounded dome, both taxa should be regarded as separate.

Description
Homalocephale was about 1.8 m long. Unlike other definitely adult pachycephalosaurs (though similar to probable juvenile specimens referred to Dracorex and Goyocephale), Homalocephale sported a flat, wedge-shaped skull roof. Nonetheless, the surface of the skull was fairly thickened.

Paleobiology
Homalocephale is also noted for having an unusually broad pelvis and some have suggested that the width served to protect vital organs from harm during flank-butting. Homalocephale also had rather long legs, indicating a fast-moving gait.

title: Homalocephale


text:
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design

The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1878, the school is housed in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the oldest private cultural institution in Washington, located on The Ellipse, facing the White House. The Corcoran School is part of GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences and was formerly an independent college, until 2014.

19th century
William Wilson Corcoran founded the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869. Construction had begun at 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in 1859, but shortly after the exterior work was completed, the Quartermaster General's corps of the Union Army occupied the building, setting up offices for the duration of the Civil War.

Work resumed immediately after the conclusion of the war, with Corcoran formally founding his gallery as an institution in 1869. The first special event held that year was a fundraiser for the completion of the Washington Monument. Corcoran's gallery welcomed its first visitors in 1887, which included art students, who were eager to sketch and paint copies of the collection's famous works.

In 1877, the painter E.F. Andrews (1835–1915) started offering the visiting students and artists formal instruction in two dimensional media for no cost. In 1878, William Wilson Corcoran donated additional funding to be used to establish a school to be associated with the gallery. After Corcoran's 1888 death, a small building was built behind the gallery in 1889 for the purpose of the gallery's burgeoning identity as a place for education in the arts. In 1890 the school officially opened as the Corcoran School of Art.

By the 1890s, both the gallery and the school programs had outgrown their respective spaces. A new, larger building designed by Ernest Flagg was constructed in 1897 at New York Avenue and 17th Street, with the basement level dedicated to workshops and studios for the students, and an upper two floors given over to large gallery spaces. From 1897 to the 1930s, the school continued in a modest existence for art students interested in a museum school. By the 1930s, the school had begun expanding: commercial art classes, scholarships, children's courses, the library, ceramics facilities and courses, weekend classes and summer opportunities were added.

20th century
Successful accreditation in the National Association of Schools of Art (NASAD) was achieved in the mid-1970s, with the first BFA degree bestowed in 1978. During this time artists that taught at the school included Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Sam Gilliam, Anne Truitt, Ed McGowin, William Christenberry, Percy Martin and Paul Reed.

Starting in the 1970s, the College utilized three facilities: the historic Flagg Building housed fine art facilities, the fine art photography and photojournalism facilities. A second building, in Georgetown, housing the Digital Media, Graphic Design, and New Media Photojournalism programs, as well as many fine art offerings in painting and drawing. Additional programs were offered through the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center. In 1985, the college was formally accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.In 1999, the school was formally renamed as The Corcoran College of Art and Design and worked to further its reputation as the singular four-year arts and design institution in Washington, D.C. As a museum school, students and faculty benefited from co-existing with the Corcoran Gallery with its more than 17,000 works and objects. In the later years of the gallery, a dedicated space known as Studio 31 displayed student art, in addition to special biennials and exhibitions of student work on display throughout the year. The annual NEXT show, staged at the end of each academic year, displayed student senior thesis projects to the greater DC community.

21st century
In 2014, a DC Superior Court-approved agreement saw the closure of the Gallery and the passing of most of the original collection into the public National Gallery of Art. The Flagg Building and college operations were handed over to the George Washington University, which today operates the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

Academics
The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design currently offers the degrees of Bachelor of Fine Arts (in Fine Art, Fine Art Photography, Photojournalism, Graphic Design, Interaction Design, and Interior Architecture); Bachelor of Arts (in Fine Art, Art History, Theatre & Dance, and Music); Master of Fine Arts (in Fine Arts, Social Practice, Interior Architecture, Classical Acting, and Production Design); Master of Arts (in Art History, New Media Photojournalism, Museum Studies, Interaction Design, Exhibition Design, and—in partnership with the Smithsonian Associates—Decorative Arts and Design History); graduate certificates in Museum Collections Management and Care, and Museum Studies; and a joint BA/MA program. After merging with George Washington University, the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design discontinued their Interior Design and Art Education programs.

Students are exposed to internships with organizations including National Geographic Magazine, embassies, and White House news photographers; summer study abroad trips in Italy, Greece, and India; and visiting artists such as Annie Leibovitz, Shepard Fairey, Maya Lin, Abelardo Morell, and William Pope. For a period of time in the spring, senior students' works for their senior theses are exhibited within the museum, giving the students experience in gallery openings as well as public exposure to their work.

The College's Continuing Education Program, which offers non-credit classes to teens and adults, draws hundreds of participants every year.

Notable alumni
Notable alumni of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, include: • Ernest Bairstow – English born American sculptor known for carving the Gettysburg Address on the Lincoln Memorial

• Aurelius Battaglia – former Disney artist and children's book illustrator

• Gladys Edgerly Bates – American sculptor

• Ned Bittinger – American portrait painter and illustrator

• Jared Leto – American musician and actor

• Tim Gunn – American fashion expert and television personality

• David Lynch – American filmmaker, painter, composer, video artist and performance artist

• Tara Donovan – American installation artist

• Bjorn Peter Egeli – American-Norwegian portrait painter

• Eugene Goossen – art critic and historian

• Bernard O. Gruenke – American stained glass artist

• Edwin Finckel – composer

• Frederick Hart – American sculptor

• Francine Haskins – multi-media textile artist and book illustrator

• Nan Hoover – American photographer, video artist, and performance artist

• Nadezhda Kouteva – Bulgarian artist

• Eugene J. Martin – American visual artist

• Madiha Omar – Iraqi painter

• Bruce Jurgens – American artist and producer

• Jody Mussoff – American artist

• Sabrina Raaf – American artist

• Sonya Rapoport – American artist

• Ian Svenonius – American musician and author

• Salarrué – Salvadoran writer, poet, and painter

• Duff Goldman – American pastry chef and television personality

• Kim Kirkpatrick – photographer

• Pacita Abad – painter

• Ruth Chew – author

• Spencer Baird Nichols – American painter, illustrator and muralist

• Josephine Lutz Rollins – painter and watercolor artist

• Kathryn Zaremba – former Full House and Toothless star

• Javier Cabada – Spanish-American abstract artist

• Thomas Hart Benton – American regionalist painter

• Morris Cafritz – Washington, D.C. real estate developer and philanthropist

• Mrinal Pande – Indian journalist and author

• Kerry Washington – actress and producer, B.A. '98

• Daniel H. Weiss – president and chief operating officer of Metropolitan Museum of Art, B.A. '79

• Dariush Kashani – American film, stage and television actor

• Percy Martin – American printmaker and art teacher

• Judy Byron – contemporary American artist

• Gregory Coates – American artist

title: Corcoran School of the Arts and Design


text:
Tomato frog

Tomato frogs are any of the three species of genus Dyscophus (family Microhylidae): D. antongilii, D. insularis, or D. guineti. Dyscophus is the only genus in subfamily Dyscophinae. They are endemic to Madagascar.

The common name comes from D. antongilii's bright red color. When threatened, a tomato frog puffs up its body. When a predator grabs a tomato frog in its mouth, the frog's skin secretes a thick substance that numbs up the predator's eyes and mouth, causing the predator to release the frog to free up its eyes. The gummy substance contains a toxin that occasionally causes allergic reactions in humans. The allergic reaction will not kill a human and the frog secretes it only when frightened.

The lifespan of the tomato frog can be from 6 to 8 years. When adult, the colors may vary from yellowish orange to deep red. Tomato frogs will reach sexual maturity in 9–14 months. Females are larger than males and can reach 4 inches (10 cm) in length. Males can reach 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5) in length. Most females range from reddish-orange to bright dark red. The bellies are usually more yellowish, and sometimes there are black spots on the throat. But males are not as brightly colored but more of a duller orange or brownish-orange. Juveniles are also dull in color and develop brighter coloration as they mature. According to the Smithsonian National Zoo tomato frog's conservation status has been updated to that of least concern. They breed in the rainy season and are nocturnal. They tend to eat small insects and invertebrates.

Species
There are three different species:

Behavior
Tomato frogs target prey within narrow angles by aligning their heads towards it, while projecting their tongues rapidly by transferring momentum from the lower jaw. Elastic energy stored in mouth-opening muscles amplifies mouth and tongue velocities, contingent on the alignment of the lower jaw and tongue. However, for prey at wider angles, tomato frogs align both head and tongue towards it, utilizing a hydrostatic mechanism for tongue projection. This enables capturing prey over broader angle ranges.

Reproductive activity
Tomato frogs lay over 1,000 fresh eggs during every month of the year except for November. Their reproductive activity is high during the months January–May and low between the months June–December.

The tadpoles hatch after around 36 hours after being laid,   becoming metamorphs (froglets) after about 45 to 60 days.

title: Tomato frog


text:
Richard A. Gardner

Richard Alan Gardner (April 28, 1931 – May 25, 2003) was an American child psychiatrist known for his work in psychotherapy with children, parental alienation and child custody evaluations. Based on his clinical work with children and families, Gardner introduced the term parental alienation syndrome (PAS), which is now "largely rejected by most credible professionals". He wrote 41 books and more than 200 journal articles and book chapters. He developed child play therapy and test materials that he published through his company Creative Therapeutics. Gardner was an expert witness in child custody cases.

Gardner and his work have been criticized as a biased effort to justify the abuse of children, beginning with sexual abuse but now encompassing all forms of abuse. PAS has not been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association or any other medical or professional association, but its use in family courts has led to widespread dismissal of legitimate testimonies regarding abuse.

Work and career
Gardner graduated from Columbia College, Columbia University in 1952 and SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 1956. After internship at Montefiore Hospital, he completed residencies in adult psychiatry and in child psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He was certified as a psychoanalyst in 1966 after training at the William Alanson White Institute.

From 1960 to 1962, he worked as director of child psychiatry in the U.S. Army Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Gardner's professional affiliations included memberships in the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, the American Medical Association, the American Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians, and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

From 1963 until his death, Gardner was a clinical professor at Columbia University's medical school, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He also held academic teaching appointments at the William Alanson White Institute (1966–83), the University of Louvain, Belgium (1980–82), and at the University of St. Petersburg, Russia (1989-1997). Gardner wrote about false allegations of sexual abuse in his 1990 book Sex Abuse Hysteria: Salem Witch Trials Revisited. He assisted the defense team of Margaret Kelly Michaels, which successfully appealed her prison conviction in the Wee Care Nursery School abuse trial.

In 1970, when divorce was becoming more common in the United States, Gardner wrote Boys and Girls Book About Divorce to provide children with suggestions on how to cope. In 1973, he created one of the first board games for use in child psychotherapy.

Controversy
Gardner's positions have caused considerable controversy among academics and those involved in the detection and treatment of child abuse. He has published rebuttals to these criticisms. He has been accused by the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence of expressing sympathy towards people with an attraction to minors. At the same time, he is said to harbor a disdain towards women. Further, he has been accused of devising his alienation theory "not based on any research but on his personal beliefs and biases, with an interest in providing a weapon for lawyers seeking to undermine a mother's credibility in court." He is said to have estimated deliberate false reporting among mothers at 90%, which experts have disputed, citing research commissioned by the United States Department of Justice that found an actual rate less than 2%.

Gardner's observation of a "parental alienation syndrome" focused on how one parent may misuse the powers of socialization to turn a child against a once loved parent. Gardner's labeling of alienation processes as a "syndrome" remains controversial among psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists. PAS has not been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association or any other medical or professional association. It has been extensively criticized by scientists and jurists, who describe it as inadmissible in child custody hearings based on both science and law. Gardner asserted that PAS is scientifically valid and legally admissible. Proposals to include PAS in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders have been controversial. PAS was not included in DSM-5.

The American Bar Association (ABA) published a review of Parental Alienation and concluded that it is without scientific basis in an article entitled "Parental Alienation Syndrome: 30 Years On And Still Junk Science (https://www.americanbar.org/groups/judicial/publications/judges_journal/2015/summer/parental_alienation_syndrome_30_years_on_and_still_junk_science/). The ABA has since published a book acknowledging the phenomenon of distorting perception in a child. For example, when a child maintains that the mother never did anything for them, and yet there is "independent information that shows the mother did everything from breastfeeding to teaching the child how to read". However, this is different than a child's claims of abuse. Trocme and Bala studied over seven thousand abuse investigations and found that of the allegations that had been ultimately determined to be false, none had come from the children themselves.

Carol S. Bruch, Research Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis, implied that Dr. Gardner's description of PAS could inflict emotions on his audience. She found lack of careful analysis and rigor among the adopters of Dr. Gardner's observations.

In a 2002 article in the American Journal of Family Therapy, Gardner dismissed most of his critics as either biased or misinformed. "Attorneys frequently select out-of-context material in order to enhance their positions in courts of law... some of these misperceptions and misrepresentations have become so widespread that I considered it judicious to formulate this statement," he wrote.

In the same article, Gardner denied that he condoned pedophilia. "I believe that pedophilia is a bad thing for society," he wrote. "I do believe, however, that pedophilia, like all other forms of atypical sexuality is part of the human repertoire and that all humans are born with the potential to develop any of the forms of atypical sexuality (which are referred to as paraphilias by DSM-IV). My acknowledgment that a form of behavior is part of the human potential is not an endorsement of that behavior. Rape, murder, sexual sadism, and sexual harassment are all part of the human potential. This does not mean I sanction these abominations."

Gardner also advocated against mandatory reporting laws for child abuse, against immunity from prosecution of individuals reporting child abuse and for the creation of programs with federal funding designed to assist individuals claimed to be falsely accused of child abuse.

Personal life and death
Gardner was born in The Bronx on April 28, 1931. He had three children with Lee Gardner before their divorce.

He committed suicide by stabbing himself at his home in Tenafly, New Jersey on May 25, 2003, at age 72. His son said that Gardner had developed type I complex regional pain syndrome, a neurological syndrome formerly known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a syndrome known for severe, intractable pain.

title: Richard A. Gardner


text: Template:First Nations in Nova Scotia

title: Template:First Nations in Nova Scotia


text:
Al (folklore)

Al or Hal (Ալ, Ալք; Гал, Qal; Һал; Алы) is a class of demon in the folklore of the Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia, and Armenia. Als are demons of childbirth, interfering with human reproduction. The al is known by various other names, including alk in Armenian and Kurdish, ol, hāl and xāl in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, almasti or albasti in Central Asian Turkic-speaking countries, and halmasti among the Dards.

Other languages

 * Ալ or Ալք (Al or Alk)
 * Ал (Al)
 * ალი (Ali)
 * Tat: Ол (Ol)
 * (Ala)
 * Һал (hal)
 * Alk or Hal
 * Al
 * (Āl)

Traditions
In Armenian tradition, the als steal the lung, liver and heart of women in childbirth, pregnant women, and women who have just given birth. They also destroy embryos in the womb, causing miscarriage, and can steal babies forty days after childbirth, replacing them with imps. They are male and female. They have clay noses and fiery eyes, and "appear with sharp fangs, disheveled hair, copper claws, iron teeth, the tusks of a wild boar and sagging breasts, resembling a crone." After stealing the organs of a woman, the al attempts to escape and cross the first source of water, after which the woman cannot be saved. Apotropaic wards against als include methods used against other demons (such as charms, prayers, iron objects, onions, and garlic), and preventing the al from reaching water.

In Iran, the al is "a bony, thin old woman, with a clay nose, red face, and a straw or reedy basket hanging from its shoulder, in which the liver or lung of the young mother is placed." In Central Asia, the al is customarily "a fat, ugly and hairy crone with sagging breasts, the one hanging over one shoulder, while hanging over her other shoulder is a woolen bag ... in which she has placed the heart and liver of her victim."

According to numerous Near Eastern traditions, God created an al for Adam's first consort, but the earth-born Adam couldn't adapt to the al's fiery nature; this is the origin of the enmity between the al and Eve and her daughters.

The al is first documented in European literature in the middle of the 19th century.

title: Al (folklore)


text:
Mutzig

Mutzig ( or ; Mützig) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est, in north-eastern France. The commune of Mutzig is located at the entrance of the Bruche river valley, on the Route des Vins d'Alsace.

History
Evidences of human activities can be traced back to the Paleolithic era with the recent discovery of Neanderthal artifacts. The town Mutzig was first mentioned in the 10th century. It became part of the Prince-Bishopric of Strasbourg in 1308.

In the 19th century, several industries were established in Mutzig among which a weapon manufactory on the grounds of the former castle of the Cardinal de Rohan. In 1893, when Alsace was part of the German Empire, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered the construction of a fort, the Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II, north of the town, as well as military barracks to defend Strasbourg against a potential French invasion.

title: Mutzig


text:
Flutina

The Flutina is an early precursor to the diatonic button accordion, having one or two rows of treble buttons, which are configured to have the tonic of the scale, on the "draw" of the bellows. There is usually no bass keyboard: the left hand operates an air valve (silent except for the rush of air). A rocker switch, called a "bascule d'harmonie" is in the front of the keyboard. When this switch is thumb activated, it would open up a pallet (a pad that covers a tone hole, at the other end of the key button(s), (see photo) for a simple Tonic/Dominant drone: Tonic on the draw and Dominant on the press, e.g. Tonic notes C/g, and Dominant G/d, without any major or minor thirds.

Many of these "Flutina" accordions were imported into the United States and were common photographers' studio props. This imparted a touch of "culture" to the sitter, hence the many tintype, ambrotype, etc. images of men and women, with their hands poised over "Flutinas", which they may (or may not) have actually played. Many of the images date from the 1850s through the American Civil War period (1861–1865).

The internal construction of the flutina resembles the English Wheatstone concertina more than the "reed banks" used in regular accordion construction. Thus, it has a concertina-like sound. Underneath the pallet/keyboard face, there is a rectangular, wooden board, reed pan, with reed chambers, made with airtight, leather covered, thin wooden dividers. These dividers are between the reeds, for the diatonic scale notes. The brass reed tongues are mounted on reed shoes, with each tongue nailed on with a single metal pin. These reed shoes (or frames) are inserted into dovetail-shaped slots into the top side of the pan. If the keyboard has two rows of keys, the outside row plays the diatonic scale, while the inside row plays the sharps and flats, and these chromatic reeds face the interior of the bellows, in dovetailed slots on the backside of the pan board, without any dividers. The face of the pallet/keyboard actually slides out to reveal the inset reed pan, reminiscent of the construction of a pencil box, or a Japanese puzzle box. The accordion bellows has a very short "throw" (the maximum extension of the bellows, when drawn out), with most instruments having only four folds. Larger versions had 5 to 7 folds in the bellows. The use of the 4 fold bellows made the duration of the note played very short, and the volume of the note comparatively soft, in contrast to the later "German" style accordions, with their larger, multi-fold bellows.

The name "flutina"
The term "flutina" is actually a more specific English name for a version of the accordéon diatonique, accordéon mélodique, clavier (keyboard) mélodique, or even accordéon romantique. Instrument makers of the 19th century often invented many distinct names for all these "new" versions of the same instrument. In addition, English musical instrument dealers would switch the brass reeds out of the French instruments, and replace them with steel reeds. Then, these English dealers would stamp their own company name inside the instrument, or the stamp of the specific store that was selling the accordion. This was a common practice in the 19th century and has continued to be used by many reputable, as well as disreputable, musical instrument dealers.

All these names, which the French makers gave these instruments, have the pallets on the outside, but the name "Flutina" implies an accordion with the pallets opening on the interior side of the face, just above the buttons, and the air exiting from a narrow slot in back of the protruding keyboard. This feature was supposed to give a more "flute-like" tone to the reeds. Whether the French makers ever used the name "Flutina" is not known.

History
The earliest version was known as the Clavier Melodique ("melodious keyboard"), circa 1831. It was made by Pichenot Jeune ("Young Pichenot"), and was probably one of the first accordions capable of playing a melody. The first recorded factory was that of Napoleon Fourneaux in Paris.

The Accordion of Cyril Demian (1829) described in his Austrian (at Vienna) patent application, had 5 pallets with 10 chords (musical triads) available. It all depended on which direction the player moved the bellows. One key pressed down had 2 chords: one chord on the "press" (in) and the other chord, on the "draw" (out). Demian also produced some Accordions with a single note per button "on the draw" or, "on the press". One of his models, had single notes and two rows of keys: first row the diatonic scale, the second row played the accidentals. The accordion tutor published in the Year of 1833 by Adolph Müller (Austrian National Bibliotheca) has an example which includes pictures and descriptions of many different models. A music journal of Paris, printed in the year of 1831, has many details about the beginning of accordion production in Paris. The article starts out with the statement that the first accordion was copied from a Demian instrument, and later, Demian invented many different scale systems, but only later French models had some buttons in the second row being divided in the middle. More information about it, is in the German Wikipedia. "de:Französisches Akkordeon" text. Note: After Demian's 1829 patent, there is some controversy about the exact dates of further inventions, and the times of applied manufacture, of accordions. Thus, opinions differ, somewhat, among musical instrument historians.

Accordion notices
1837, an advertisement in the musical news paper „LE MENESTREL“ of M. Reisner, selling accordions. By 1845, There were many makers of accordions, listed in various journals: Alexandre, Fourneaux, Jaulin, Lebroux, Neveux, Kasriel, Leterme, Reisner, Busson, M. Klaneguisert. All of these makers sold two different models at that time: one without any chromatic accidentals (a diatonic one row or two row system), and one two rows of buttons with accidentals (diatonic outside row/chromatic inside row.)

A single scale system for these accordions was not universally adopted: Many competing "key layouts" existed. These variations offered slightly differing advantages to the player, and were "championed" by the different manufacturers. layout link

Later versions of the "Flutina" had a few open (tonic and fifth) chords available on the bass side, in addition to the silent "air" key. The most famous maker of these "flutina" accordions was Busson of Paris. Busson also is thought to have had a part in the development of the piano accordion (circa 1880s). The heyday of the "Flutina" was approximately from 1840 to 1880. In the United States of America, the more robust steel-reeded German Melodians "won out" over these brass-reeded, soft, and delicate "accordion melodiques". French "accordion" manufactures nearly came to an end during the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71. From 1880 on, the Italian accordion makers took over a large share of the French market for accordions.

title: Flutina


text:
Randy Thornton

Randall Thornton (born December 23, 1964) is an American former football player and professional wrestler. He is also known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Swoll.

Football career
Thornton attended the University of Houston, where he played for the Houston Cougars as a defensive back and free safety between 1984 and 1987.

From 1988 to 1990, he was a member of the Denver Broncos as a linebacker. In 1990, he was sidelined with a knee injury. In 1990, he was also courted by the New York Giants. He left the Broncos in the same year without ever having played in a game.

He played for the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football in 1992.

In the 1993 CFL season, he played for the Sacramento Gold Miners as a defensive end.

Early career
Thornton trained as a wrestler under Brad Rheingans.

On May 3, 1991, he debuted in the American Wrestling Association, where he lost to Frank Andersson. That same month, he toured New Japan Pro-Wrestling and fought in a "Different Style Fight" against Shinya Hashimoto, which he lost in the second round. He would lose another Different Style Fight to Masashi Aoyagi in October 1991.

World Championship Wrestling (1999)
In 1999, Thornton, under the ring name Swoll, debuted in World Championship Wrestling as a member of Master P's No Limit Soldiers. The Soldiers immediately began a feud with The West Texas Rednecks due to the Rednecks' hatred of rap music. On June 13, 1999 at The Great American Bash, Swoll assisted fellow Soldiers Konnan and Rey Misterio Jr. in defeating the Rednecks' Curt Hennig and Bobby Duncum Jr. On the June 24 episode of Thunder, Swoll made his in-ring debut as he and B.A. defeated Disorderly Conduct (Mean Mike and Tough Tom). At Bash at the Beach, the Soldiers (Swoll, Konnan, B.A. and Misterio Jr.) defeated the Rednecks (Hennig, Duncum Jr. Barry Windham and Kendall Windham) in an elimination tag team match. After defeating a few other teams over the next few weeks, Swoll and B.A. lost to the Windhams on the August 3 episode of Saturday Night, thus ending both Swoll's undefeated streak and the feud between the Soldiers and the Rednecks. On the August 17 episode of Saturday Night, Swoll competed in his final match for WCW as he and B.A. defeated Hugh Morrus and Jerry Flynn via disqualification. Thornton retired from professional wrestling immediately afterwards.

Retirement
After retiring from wrestling, Thornton began working for the American Center For Character and Cultural Education. He is a born again Christian and also speaks for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

title: Randy Thornton


text:
Brink's

The Brink's Company is an American cash handling company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Its operations include cash-in-transit, ATM replenishment & maintenance, and cash management & payment services, such as vault outsourcing, money processing, intelligent safe services, and international transportation of valuables.

Operations
Brink's is popularly known for its bullet-resistant armored trucks which carry money and valuable goods (the service once used to transport the Hope Diamond from an auction to the buyer's home). Brink's is a provider of security services to banks, retailers, governments, mints and jewelers. Founded in 1859 by Perry and Fidelia Brink of Chicago, Illinois, Brink's business evolved from local armored transportation services to providing corporate financial logistics and international secure transportation.

In 1962, Brink's was acquired by Pittston, a coal company. Burlington Air Express was acquired in 1982. Brink's Home Security was started in 1983. Pittston sold off its coal assets in the 2000s and renamed the company Brink's.

Burlington Air Express was renamed BAX Global in 1997, and was sold to Deutsche Bahn for $1.1 billion in 2006.

In January 2012, Brink's acquired Kheops, SAS, a provider of logistics software and related services in France, for approximately $17 million. This acquisition gave the company proprietary control of software used primarily in cash-in-transit and money processing operations in France.

A significant portion of Brink's business is conducted internationally, with 82% of $3.9 billion in revenues earned outside the United States in 2013. The majority of Brink's consolidated revenues in 2013 was earned in operations located in nine countries, each contributing in excess of $100 million of revenues. The 2013 revenues from these countries totaled $3.0 billion or 79% of consolidated revenues. These operations, in declining order of revenues, were the U.S., France, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, Colombia, Argentina and the Netherlands.

On January 31, 2013, Brink's acquired Brazil-based Rede Transacoes Eletronicas Ltda. ("Redetrel") for approximately $26 million. Redetrel distributes electronic prepaid products, including mobile phone airtime, via a network of approximately 20,000 retail locations across Brazil. Redetrel's strong distribution network supplements Brink's existing payments business, ePago, which has operations in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Panama.

Discontinued operations
In November 2010, Brink's former cash-in-transit (CIT) operations in Belgium filed for bankruptcy, after local union employees rejected a restructuring plan, and was placed in bankruptcy on February 2, 2011. Brink's deconsolidated the Belgium subsidiary in 2010. However, in 2021 returned to Belgium and took over G4S's Cash Solutions division.

In 2012, Brink's agreed to sell its cash-in-transit operations in Germany and Poland, and event security operations in France, and the company completed the divestiture of its guarding operations in Morocco, in December 2012.

In May 2014, Brink's US decided to cease their cash-in-transit operations throughout Australia. Armaguard made an offer to purchase Brink's Australia's CIT operations, and Brink's is continuing their precious goods logistics business within Australia.

Home security
Brinks began offering home security alarm systems in 1982. In 2008, it was spun off into a separate publicly traded company, despite accounting for 15% of the company's revenue that year. The company rebranded as Broadview Security in 2009 with a massive advertising campaign.

The ads were widely criticized as unscrupulous, fear-mongering, and seen as exaggerating the capabilities of home security systems. Unflattering parodies of Broadview's TV commercials, mocking the company's attempts to manipulate consumers, were posted online, along with a filmed Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Andy Samberg and Bill Hader.

In 2010, Broadview was sold to Tyco International, then-owner of ADT, for $2 billion. The acquisition closed in mid-2010, after which the Broadview name and product line were discontinued, with its operations merged into ADT. The merger combined the two largest home security providers in the United States, adding Broadview's 1.3 million customer accounts to ADT's existing customer base of 7.4 million.

Brinks later re-entered the home security industry in 2018, through a trademark licensing deal with Monitronics International, which currently offers services under the name Brink's Home.

Lock manufacturing
Brink's-branded door locks and padlocks have been manufactured and sold under license by California-based Hampton Products since 1998.

1950 robbery
The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brinks Building at the corner of Prince St. and Commercial St. in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on the night of January 17, 1950. Led by Boston small-time criminal Tony "Fats" Pino, 11 men broke in and stole $1,218,211.29 in cash, and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities. At the time, it was the largest robbery in the history of the United States. Skillfully executed with only a bare minimum of clues left at the crime scene, the robbery was billed as "the crime of the century".

All 11 members of the gang were later arrested, and all were paroled and released by 1971, except for Joseph "Big Joe" McGinnis, the originator of the heist, who died in prison. Despite ongoing efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local authorities, only $58,000 of the initial $2.7 million stolen was ever recovered.

1981 attempted robbery
On October 20, 1981, members of the Weather Underground Organization and Black Liberation Army attempted an armed robbery of a Brink's armored car in Nanuet, New York. The robbery resulted in a shootout that left two police officers, Edward O'Grady and Waverly Brown, and a Brink's security guard, Peter Paige, dead. Paige's partner, Joe Trombino, was severely wounded in the gun battle but survived; he later died at the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.

1983 Brink's-Mat robbery
On November 26, 1983, there was an armed robbery at a warehouse near London's Heathrow Airport, operated by Brink's-Mat, a former joint venture between Brink's and the London-based company MAT Transport, which specialized in the transportation of valuable goods. Three tonnes of gold bullion (worth £26 million) was stolen. Most of the gold has never been recovered.

1993 New York robbery
On January 5, 1993, $7.4 million was stolen from the Brink's Armored Car Depot in Rochester, New York, the fifth largest robbery in US history. Four men, Sam Millar, Patrick Moloney, former Rochester Police officer Thomas O'Connor, and Charles McCormick, all of whom had ties to the Provisional Irish Republican Army, were accused.

2008 "D.B. Tuber" robbery
On September 30, 2008, in Monroe, Washington, a Brink's armored car pulled up to make a delivery to the Bank of America. A landscaper, who was working the grounds and wearing a blue shirt, blue hat, and yellow safety vest, approached the armored car guard, pepper-sprayed him, stole $400,000 in cash, and escaped on an inner tube on the nearby Woods Creek. When police arrived, they found the bank's parking lot was full of men wearing clothing identical to the mysterious robber's. All were "hired" by a phony ad, placed on Craigslist by a culprit the media dubbed "D.B. Tuber" (after famed hijacker, D. B. Cooper), instructing them to show up at the bank at the same time, wearing a blue shirt, blue hat, and yellow safety vest. Months later, the FBI received a tip from a very attentive homeless man who had witnessed a "practice run" weeks prior to the robbery. DNA evidence later convicted former college football player Anthony Curcio of the crime.

2013 Brussels Airport diamond heist
On 18 February 2013, eight masked gunmen, in two cars with police markings, stole approximately €38 million worth of diamonds by attacking in a very small time window during which they were being transferred from a Brink's armored van to a Swiss-bound Fokker 100 operated by Helvetic Airways. The Fokker 100 was on the apron at Brussels Airport, Belgium, just before 20:00 CET. The heist was accomplished without a shot being fired.

2014 return of lost money bag
In May 2014, California resident Joe Cornell found a Brink's bag with $125,000 inside; Cornell saw the bag of cash accidentally fall out of the back of a Brink's transport car as it drove over the railroad tracks in downtown Fresno. Cornell returned the bag of cash claiming, "it was the right thing to do." Brinks thanked the man for his honesty with a $5,000 reward and a $5,000 donation in Cornell's name to the Salvation Army, where he works.

2022 Lebec Flying J heist
On July 11, 2022, approximately $100 million to $150 million worth of jewelry, luxury watches, and other valuables were stolen from a Brink's truck within a 27-minute window whilst the two drivers were at a Flying J rest stop on I-5 in Lebec, California. One driver had entered the building to get food while the other was sleeping inside the vehicle. The merchandise, which had been loaded the day before in San Francisco, was en route to a trade show in Pasadena. Thirteen jewelry companies sued Brink's over payout for the incident, and Brink's filed a countersuit, alleging that the companies deliberately undervalued the cost of their merchandise during transit. The incident remains under investigation by the FBI and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department's Major Crimes Bureau.

2023 Toronto airport heist
In April 2023, over CAD $20 million of gold and high-valued goods were stolen from Toronto Pearson International Airport. The items were stolen from an Air Canada Cargo facility after the perpetrator used a fake document to gain access into the facility. Brinks, which was entrusted with arranging the shipment, sued Air Canada for the theft citing that the facility's lax security system was the main cause of the theft. Subsequently, police charged nine suspects including two individuals who were Air Canada employees.

Recent corporate developments
In October 2015, Brink's activist investor Starboard Value LP announced it had raised its stake in the company to around 12.4%. Later that year, Brink's responded to Texas RFI 212P with their perspective on a solution for Texas HB 483, establishing the Texas Bullion Depository.

In April 2017, it was announced that Brinks had chosen the FN Herstal FN 509 9mm to be the new sidearm for their armed guards.

In August 2018, Brinks Inc. acquired Dunbar Armored for $520 million.

title: Brink's


text: User talk:69.50.184.210

title: User talk:69.50.184.210


text: User talk:69.92.121.212

title: User talk:69.92.121.212