THE CERATOPSIAN DINOSAURS
AN-ki-SER-a-tops
Close-horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Alberta, Canada
Anchiceratops was 16.5-20ft. (5-6m) long. It had long
horns above its eyes, but a short nose horn. It had a long neck-frill
with knobs and spines pointing backward. The horns, spines, and
frills were used to defend against meat-eaters. The particular
pattern in Anchiceratops is different from all other
ceratopsians, and may have helped the animals themselves to
recognise other members of their own species
BAG-a-SER-a-tops
Small-horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Mongolia
Bagaceratops was a very small ceratopsian – only
3.3ft. (1m) long. It had only a small neckfrill, and a small horn
on its snout. Bagaceratops had no teeth at the front of its
mouth, but it had a tough «beak» with which it could have
nipped off branches and leaves.
BRACK-ee-SER-a-tops
Short-horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Montana, USA, and Alberta, Canada
Brachyceratops was a very small ceratopsian, only 6.5ft.
(2m) long. It had a well-developed, slightly curved horn on its
snout and smaller ones above its eyes. The frill was short.
Brachyceratops is known from five or six skeletons, all of which
were young animals. It is very likely that it was a young
monoclonius, but this is hard to prove.
KAZ-mo-SAW-rus
Opening reptile
Ornihischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Alberta, Canada, and New Mexico, USA
Chasmosaurus was the earliest long-frilles ceratopsian.
At the back of the head there is a long frill made from the skull
bones which have grown backward. The frill is longer than the
skullitself, and it has large holes in it to make it weight less.
The frill covered the back of the neck, which could have been a
soft place for tyrannosaurs to bite into. The strong neck muscle
that Chasmosaurs needed to hold up its heavy head would
have been fixed to the frill. There were small horns over the
eyes and one on the nose. Chasmosaurus was over 16.5ft (5m)
long.
LEP-toe-SER-a-tops
Slim-horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Alberta, Canadan Wyoming, USA, and Mongolia
Leptoceratops was a small horned dinosaur related to
bagaceratops and protoceratops. It had skort arms long hind legs,
so it probably ran upright. The skull was low and it had no trace
of horns at all, unlike ite relatives. Leptoceratops had a
small frill at the back of its skull it clearly a primitive form.
Leptoceratops was up to 8.8ft (2.7m) long.
MON-oh-KLONE-ee-us
One-horned
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Alberta, Canada and western USA
Monoclonius was a medium-sized horned dinosaur about
20ft (6m) long. It is known from several skeletons, and 11
species have been named. Monoclonius had a very large horn on its
nose, but only slight bumps above its eyes. The frill was short
and its back edge was covered with bony knobs. There were also
two bony spikes which pointed forward from the back of the frill.
PAK-ee-RINE-oh-SAW-rus
Thick-nosed reptile
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Alberta, Canada
Pachyrhinus in one of the most unusual dinosaur. It is
known from four skulls and some other pieces. Pachyrhinosaurus
had no horns, but only a thick mass of bone in the middle of its
snout, between the eyes. Pachyrhinosaurus was a large animal: its
skull alone measured up to 4.5ft (1,4m= long, and its body may
have been 20ft (6m) long.
PEN-ta-SER-a-tops
Five-horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
New Mexcico, USA
Pentaceratops had more horns than other horned
dinosaurs – five in all. It had one on its snout, one above
each eye, and one of each chee, at the bottom of the frill. This
array of horns was used for defence against meat-eating dinosaurs.
It is also likely that Pentaceratops used its horns for display.
The neck-frill was very long, and the back edge was knobby.
Pentaceratops was related to anchiceratops and torosaurus, and it
may have been 20ft (6m) long.
pro-toe-SER-a-tops
First horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cretaceous
Mongolia
Protoceratops is the best-known earlyhorned dinosaur.
Many skeletons were collected during an early American expedition
to Mongolia in 1922. Some of these were found with complete nests
of eggs, which first showed us how dinosaur cared for their young.
There were skeletons of baby Protoceratops, some still unhatched
within the eggs. An adult Protoceratops was 6ft (1,8m) lnog: the
babies were 12in (30cm) long. Protoceratops had a horny beak and
a small neck-frill. Its closest relatives were bagaceratops,
leptoceratops, and microceratops.
si-TAK-oh-SAW-rus
Parrot reptile
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Early Cretaceous
Mongolia and China
Psittacosaurus is an intersting animal. It seems to be
partly an ornithopod and partly a horned dinosaur. Psittacosaurus
had long hind legs and shorter arms, and it probably walked an
upright like iguanodon. However, the skull was a little like that
of an early ceratopsian (leptoceratops). Psittacosaurus had a
small frill at the back made from short spines pointing backward.
One species had a small horn on its nose. Some baby
Psittacosaurus have been found recently that were only 10in (25cm)
long. The adults were 6ft (1,5m) long.
STY-rak-oh-SAW-rus
Spiked reptile
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cratecous
Alberta, Canada, and Montana, USA
Styracosaurus is a well-known dinosaur with remarkably
spiny frill. Styracosaurus was 18ft. (5.5m) long and it
was probably related to monoclonius. The skull was long and it
had six long spines that pointed back over the neck. It had a
tall horn on its nose that pointed straight upward. There were
two much smaller horns above the eyes. This formidable array
would have helped Styracosaurus to protect itself against
predators and might also have warned off rivals of the same
species.
TOR-oh-SAW-rus
Piercing reptile
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cratecous
Western USA
Torosaurus had the longest frill of all the horned
dinosaurs. Torosaurus had a pointy beak, a small horn on
its nose, and two large ones pointing forward above its eyes. The
frill at the back of the skull was longer than the skull itself.
One specimen of Torosaurus is a skull that is 8.5ft. (2.6m)
long, which is the biggest head of any known land animal. The
head alone was the size of a small car. Torosaurus was
about 25ft. (7.5m) long overall.
try-SER-a-tops
Three-horned face
Ornithischia: Ceratopsia
Late Cratecous
Western Canada and USA
Triceratops is the best known horned dinosaur. It was
named in 1889 by Othniel C. Marsh on the basis of the skull. Two
years earlier, Marsh had described a couple of Triceratops
horns as coming from a bison fossil. Since then, twenty species
of Triceratops have been named, some on very poor material.
Triceratops had three horns: one on its nose and two long
ones above its eyes. Its neck frill was fairly short, and the
back edge was surrounded by a zig zag of knobs of bone. Triceratops
was heavily built, with strong legs. Each finger or toe had a
small hoof on the end. Triceratops was very large,
measuring up to 30ft. (9m) long.
