Nedoceratops: Difference between revisions
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* ''N. hatcheri'' <small>(Lull, 1905) ([[Type species|type]]) originally ''Diceratops'', preoccupied by Foerster, 1868</small> |
* ''N. hatcheri'' <small>(Lull vide Hatcher, 1905) ([[Type species|type]]) originally ''Diceratops'', preoccupied by Foerster, 1868</small> |
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| synonyms = |
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* '''''Diceratops''''' <small>Lull, 1905 (preoccupied)</small> |
* '''''Diceratops''''' <small>Lull vide Hatcher, 1905 (preoccupied)</small> |
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* '''''Triceratops (Diceratops)''''' <small>Lull, 1933</small> |
* '''''Triceratops (Diceratops)''''' <small>Lull, 1933</small> |
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* '''''Diceratus''''' <small>[[Octávio Mateus|Mateus]], 2008</small> |
* '''''Diceratus''''' <small>[[Octávio Mateus|Mateus]], 2008</small> |
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'''''Nedoceratops''''' (meaning "insufficient horned face") is a [[genus]] of [[Ceratopsidae|ceratopsid]] [[herbivore|herbivorous]] [[dinosaur]] from the [[Late Cretaceous]] [[geologic period|period]] [[Lance Formation]] of [[North America]]. It is known only from a single poorly preserved [[skull]] discovered in [[Wyoming]]. In 2010, a published study concluded that ''Nedoceratops'' does not represent a distinct genus, but rather a "young adult" form of ''[[ |
'''''Nedoceratops''''' (meaning "insufficient horned face") is a [[genus]] of [[Ceratopsidae|ceratopsid]] [[herbivore|herbivorous]] [[dinosaur]] from the [[Late Cretaceous]] [[geologic period|period]] [[Lance Formation]] of [[North America]]. It is known only from a single poorly preserved [[skull]] discovered in [[Wyoming]]. It is often considered either valid or a synonym of ''[[Triceratops]]''. In 2010, a published study concluded that ''Nedoceratops'' does not represent a distinct genus, but rather a "young adult" form of ''Triceratops''. Later, Andrew Farke published a study in PLoS ONE stating that both ''[[Torosaurus]]'' and ''Nedoceratops'' are distinct from ''Triceratops''. |
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==Etymology== |
==Etymology== |
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==History of discovery== |
==History of discovery== |
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The paper that described ''Nedoceratops'' was originally part of [[O. C. Marsh]]'s [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]], his Ceratopsidae [[monograph]]. Unfortunately, Marsh died (1899) before the work was completed, and [[John Bell Hatcher]] endeavored to complete the ''Triceratops'' section. However, he died of [[typhus]] in 1904 at the age of 42, leaving the paper still uncompleted. It fell to [[Richard Swann Lull]] to complete the monograph in 1905, publishing Hatcher's description of a skull separately and giving it the name ''Diceratops hatcheri''<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Hatcher |first1= John Bell |year= |
The paper that described ''Nedoceratops'' was originally part of [[O. C. Marsh]]'s [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]], his Ceratopsidae [[monograph]]. Unfortunately, Marsh died (1899) before the work was completed, and [[John Bell Hatcher]] endeavored to complete the ''Triceratops'' section. However, he died of [[typhus]] in 1904 at the age of 42, leaving the paper still uncompleted. It fell to [[Richard Swann Lull]] to complete the monograph in 1905, publishing Hatcher's description of a skull separately and giving it the name ''Diceratops hatcheri''<ref name=farke/><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Hatcher |first1= John Bell |year=1904 |title= Two new Ceratopsia from the Laramie of Converse County, Wyoming |journal= American Journal of Science | series=Series 4,| volume=4 |pages= 413−419 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=FnAuAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA21#v=onepage&q&f=false }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Lull |first1= Richard Swann |year=1905 |title= Restoration of the horned dinosaur Diceratops |journal= American Journal of Science |series=Series 4,| volume=4 |pages=420−422 |url= http://books.google.com/books?id=FnAuAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA28#v=onepage&f=false }}</ref>; ''Diceratops'' means "two horned face." |
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Since the ''Diceratops'' paper had been written by Hatcher, and Lull had only contributed the name and published the paper after Hatcher's death, Lull was not quite as convinced of the distinctiveness of ''Diceratops'', thinking it primarily [[pathological]]. By 1933, Lull had had second thoughts about ''Diceratops'' being a distinct genus and he put it in a subgenus of ''[[Triceratops]]'': ''Triceratops'' (''Diceratops''), including ''T. obtusus''; largely attributing its differences to being that of an aged individual. |
Since the ''Diceratops'' paper had been written by Hatcher, and Lull had only contributed the name and published the paper after Hatcher's death, Lull was not quite as convinced of the distinctiveness of ''Diceratops'', thinking it primarily [[pathological]]. By 1933, Lull had had second thoughts about ''Diceratops'' being a distinct genus and he put it in a subgenus of ''[[Triceratops]]'': ''Triceratops'' (''Diceratops'') ''hatcheri'', including ''T. obtusus''; largely attributing its differences to being that of an aged individual.<ref name=farke/> |
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Because the ''Diceratops'' name was already in use for a [[hymenoptera]]n (Foerster, 1868), Andrey Sergeevich Ukrainsky gave the animal its current name ''Nedoceratops'' in 2007.<ref name=Ukrainsky07>Ukrainsky, A.S. (2007). [http://www.zin.ru/Animalia/Coleoptera/rus/ukr_zr07.htm "A new replacement name for ''Diceratops'' Lull, 1905 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae)."] ''Zoosystematica Rossica'', '''16'''(2), 20 December 2007: 292.</ref> Unaware that Ukrainsky had already re-named the animal, [[Octávio Mateus]] coined another new name for it in 2008, ''Diceratus''.<ref name=OM08>{{cite journal |last=Mateus |first=Octávio |year=2008 |title=Two ornithischian dinosaurs renamed: ''Microceratops'' Bohlin 1953 and ''Diceratops'' Lull 1905 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=82 |issue=2 |pages=423 |doi=10.1666/07-069.1}}</ref><ref name=Ukrainsky09>Ukrainsky, A.S. (2009). "Sinonimiya rodov ''Nedoceratops'' Ukrainsky, 2007 i ''Diceratus'' Mateus, 2008 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopidae)." ''Paleontologicheskii zhurnal'', '''2009'''(1): 108. Translated as: Ukrainsky, A.S. (2009). [http://www.springerlink.com/content/k0u4421677v6t171/fulltext.pdf "Synonymy of the genera ''Nedoceratops'' Ukrainsky, 2007 and ''Diceratus'' Mateus, 2008 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopidae)."] ''Paleontological Journal'', '''2009''' 43(1):116.</ref> ''Diceratus'' is now considered a [[junior synonym]] of ''Nedoceratops''. |
Because the ''Diceratops'' name was already in use for a [[hymenoptera]]n (Foerster, 1868), Andrey Sergeevich Ukrainsky gave the animal its current name ''Nedoceratops'' in 2007.<ref name=Ukrainsky07>Ukrainsky, A.S. (2007). [http://www.zin.ru/Animalia/Coleoptera/rus/ukr_zr07.htm "A new replacement name for ''Diceratops'' Lull, 1905 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae)."] ''Zoosystematica Rossica'', '''16'''(2), 20 December 2007: 292.</ref> Unaware that Ukrainsky had already re-named the animal, [[Octávio Mateus]] coined another new name for it in 2008, ''Diceratus''.<ref name=OM08>{{cite journal |last=Mateus |first=Octávio |year=2008 |title=Two ornithischian dinosaurs renamed: ''Microceratops'' Bohlin 1953 and ''Diceratops'' Lull 1905 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=82 |issue=2 |pages=423 |doi=10.1666/07-069.1}}</ref><ref name=Ukrainsky09>Ukrainsky, A.S. (2009). "Sinonimiya rodov ''Nedoceratops'' Ukrainsky, 2007 i ''Diceratus'' Mateus, 2008 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopidae)." ''Paleontologicheskii zhurnal'', '''2009'''(1): 108. Translated as: Ukrainsky, A.S. (2009). [http://www.springerlink.com/content/k0u4421677v6t171/fulltext.pdf "Synonymy of the genera ''Nedoceratops'' Ukrainsky, 2007 and ''Diceratus'' Mateus, 2008 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopidae)."] ''Paleontological Journal'', '''2009''' 43(1):116.</ref> ''Diceratus'' is now considered a [[junior synonym]] of ''Nedoceratops''.<ref name=farke>{{cite doi|10.1371/journal.pone.0016196}}</ref> |
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==Description== |
==Description== |
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The poorly preserved skull known as "USNM 2412" is the only fossil of ''Nedoceratops''.<ref name=Scannella2010>{{cite doi|10.1080/02724634.2010.483632}}</ref> Like Hatcher's other ''Triceratops'' skulls, it was found in eastern Wyoming, i.c. in 1891 in [[Niobrara County]] near [[Lightning Creek, Wyoming|Lightning Creek]]. Superficially, it resembles that of ''Triceratops'', but on closer examination, it is definitely odd: there is just a rounded stump where the nasal horn should be and the [[Occiput|occipital]] (brow) horns stand almost vertically. Compared to other ''Triceratops'' skulls, it is slightly larger than average (2.0 m), but its face is rather short. There also are large holes in the frill, unlike other ''Triceratops'' skulls known. Some of these may be pathological, others seem to be genetic.<ref name=Scannella2010/> |
The poorly preserved skull known as "USNM 2412" is the only fossil of ''Nedoceratops''.<ref name=Scannella2010>{{cite doi|10.1080/02724634.2010.483632}}</ref> Like Hatcher's other ''Triceratops'' skulls, it was found in eastern Wyoming, i.c. in 1891 in [[Niobrara County]] near [[Lightning Creek, Wyoming|Lightning Creek]]. Superficially, it resembles that of ''Triceratops'', but on closer examination, it is definitely odd: there is just a rounded stump where the nasal horn should be and the [[Occiput|occipital]] (brow) horns stand almost vertically. Compared to other ''Triceratops'' skulls, it is slightly larger than average (2.0 m), but its face is rather short. There also are large holes in the frill, unlike other ''Triceratops'' skulls known. Some of these may be pathological, others seem to be genetic.<ref name=Scannella2010/> |
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===Distinguishing characteristics=== |
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If ''Nedoceratops'' is distinct from ''Triceratops'' is can be distinguished by these features: |
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* It lacks a recognizable nasal horn,<ref name=farke/> |
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* It has almost vertical postorbital horncores,<ref name=farke/> |
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* And it has a small parietal fenestrae.<ref name=farke/> |
|||
==Classification== |
==Classification== |
||
The [[type species]] is ''Nedoceratops hatcheri''. ''Nedoceratops'' belonged to the Ceratopsia (the name is [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] for "horned faces", ''Keratopia''), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with [[parrot]]-like beaks which thrived in [[North America]] and [[Asia]] during the [[Cretaceous]] Period, which ended roughly 66 million years ago. All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era. |
The [[type species]] is ''Nedoceratops hatcheri''. ''Nedoceratops'' belonged to the Ceratopsia (the name is [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] for "horned faces", ''Keratopia''), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with [[parrot]]-like beaks which thrived in [[North America]] and [[Asia]] during the [[Cretaceous]] Period, which ended roughly 66 million years ago. All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era.<ref name=farke/> |
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Several authors have suggested that ''Nedoceratops'' may be directly ancestral to ''Triceratops'', or perhaps its nearest relative. In 2010, John B. Scannella and [[John R. Horner]] published a paper in the ''[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology]]'' claiming that the USNM 2412 skull (i.e., of ''Nedoceratops'') belonged to a "young adult" ''Triceratops''.<ref name=Scannella2010/> Evidence for this hypothesis included the shapes of the [[epoccipital]] and [[squamosal]] bones, and a [[neck frill]] (parietal bone) that had "incipient" openings (contrasting with no openings in subadult ''Triceratops'' and large openings in adult ''Triceratops'' formerly assigned to ''[[Torosaurus]]'').<ref name=Scannella2010/> The authors were of the opinion that the nasal horn of the USNM 2412 skull could have been lost when the animal was alive or when it became fossilized.<ref name=Scannella2010/> |
Several authors have suggested that ''Nedoceratops'' may be directly ancestral to ''Triceratops'', or perhaps its nearest relative. In 2010, John B. Scannella and [[John R. Horner]] published a paper in the ''[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology]]'' claiming that the USNM 2412 skull (i.e., of ''Nedoceratops'') belonged to a "young adult" ''Triceratops''.<ref name=Scannella2010/> Evidence for this hypothesis included the shapes of the [[epoccipital]] and [[squamosal]] bones, and a [[neck frill]] (parietal bone) that had "incipient" openings (contrasting with no openings in subadult ''Triceratops'' and large openings in adult ''Triceratops'' formerly assigned to ''[[Torosaurus]]'').<ref name=Scannella2010/> The authors were of the opinion that the nasal horn of the USNM 2412 skull could have been lost when the animal was alive or when it became fossilized.<ref name=Scannella2010/> This differs from what has been said by Farke, who claims that the skull represented that of an "old adult".<ref name=farke/> |
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==Diet== |
==Diet== |
||
''Nedoceratops'', like all ceratopsians, was a [[herbivore]]. During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited on the landscape", and so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. It would have used its sharp ceratopsian beak to bite off the leaves or needles. |
''Nedoceratops'', like all ceratopsians, was a [[herbivore]]. During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited on the landscape", and so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. It would have used its sharp ceratopsian beak to bite off the leaves or needles.<ref name=farke/> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 02:35, 18 November 2013
| Nedoceratops Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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| Genus: | Nedoceratops Ukrainsky, 2007
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Nedoceratops (meaning "insufficient horned face") is a genus of ceratopsid herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period Lance Formation of North America. It is known only from a single poorly preserved skull discovered in Wyoming. It is often considered either valid or a synonym of Triceratops. In 2010, a published study concluded that Nedoceratops does not represent a distinct genus, but rather a "young adult" form of Triceratops. Later, Andrew Farke published a study in PLoS ONE stating that both Torosaurus and Nedoceratops are distinct from Triceratops.
Etymology
Nedoceratops means "insufficient horned face". The "nedo" is derived from the russian prefix meaning "insufficient". The suffix common among ceratopsians, "ceratops", means "horned face". It was named in reference to its lack of a nasal horn.
History of discovery
The paper that described Nedoceratops was originally part of O. C. Marsh's magnum opus, his Ceratopsidae monograph. Unfortunately, Marsh died (1899) before the work was completed, and John Bell Hatcher endeavored to complete the Triceratops section. However, he died of typhus in 1904 at the age of 42, leaving the paper still uncompleted. It fell to Richard Swann Lull to complete the monograph in 1905, publishing Hatcher's description of a skull separately and giving it the name Diceratops hatcheri[1][2][3]; Diceratops means "two horned face."
Since the Diceratops paper had been written by Hatcher, and Lull had only contributed the name and published the paper after Hatcher's death, Lull was not quite as convinced of the distinctiveness of Diceratops, thinking it primarily pathological. By 1933, Lull had had second thoughts about Diceratops being a distinct genus and he put it in a subgenus of Triceratops: Triceratops (Diceratops) hatcheri, including T. obtusus; largely attributing its differences to being that of an aged individual.[1]
Because the Diceratops name was already in use for a hymenopteran (Foerster, 1868), Andrey Sergeevich Ukrainsky gave the animal its current name Nedoceratops in 2007.[4] Unaware that Ukrainsky had already re-named the animal, Octávio Mateus coined another new name for it in 2008, Diceratus.[5][6] Diceratus is now considered a junior synonym of Nedoceratops.[1]
Description
The poorly preserved skull known as "USNM 2412" is the only fossil of Nedoceratops.[7] Like Hatcher's other Triceratops skulls, it was found in eastern Wyoming, i.c. in 1891 in Niobrara County near Lightning Creek. Superficially, it resembles that of Triceratops, but on closer examination, it is definitely odd: there is just a rounded stump where the nasal horn should be and the occipital (brow) horns stand almost vertically. Compared to other Triceratops skulls, it is slightly larger than average (2.0 m), but its face is rather short. There also are large holes in the frill, unlike other Triceratops skulls known. Some of these may be pathological, others seem to be genetic.[7]
Distinguishing characteristics
If Nedoceratops is distinct from Triceratops is can be distinguished by these features:
- It lacks a recognizable nasal horn,[1]
- It has almost vertical postorbital horncores,[1]
- And it has a small parietal fenestrae.[1]
Classification
The type species is Nedoceratops hatcheri. Nedoceratops belonged to the Ceratopsia (the name is Greek for "horned faces", Keratopia), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks which thrived in North America and Asia during the Cretaceous Period, which ended roughly 66 million years ago. All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era.[1]
Several authors have suggested that Nedoceratops may be directly ancestral to Triceratops, or perhaps its nearest relative. In 2010, John B. Scannella and John R. Horner published a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology claiming that the USNM 2412 skull (i.e., of Nedoceratops) belonged to a "young adult" Triceratops.[7] Evidence for this hypothesis included the shapes of the epoccipital and squamosal bones, and a neck frill (parietal bone) that had "incipient" openings (contrasting with no openings in subadult Triceratops and large openings in adult Triceratops formerly assigned to Torosaurus).[7] The authors were of the opinion that the nasal horn of the USNM 2412 skull could have been lost when the animal was alive or when it became fossilized.[7] This differs from what has been said by Farke, who claims that the skull represented that of an "old adult".[1]
Diet
Nedoceratops, like all ceratopsians, was a herbivore. During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited on the landscape", and so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. It would have used its sharp ceratopsian beak to bite off the leaves or needles.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016196, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with
|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0016196instead. - ^ Hatcher, John Bell (1904). "Two new Ceratopsia from the Laramie of Converse County, Wyoming". American Journal of Science. Series 4,. 4: 413−419.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ Lull, Richard Swann (1905). "Restoration of the horned dinosaur Diceratops". American Journal of Science. Series 4,. 4: 420−422.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ Ukrainsky, A.S. (2007). "A new replacement name for Diceratops Lull, 1905 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae)." Zoosystematica Rossica, 16(2), 20 December 2007: 292.
- ^ Mateus, Octávio (2008). "Two ornithischian dinosaurs renamed: Microceratops Bohlin 1953 and Diceratops Lull 1905". Journal of Paleontology. 82 (2): 423. doi:10.1666/07-069.1.
- ^ Ukrainsky, A.S. (2009). "Sinonimiya rodov Nedoceratops Ukrainsky, 2007 i Diceratus Mateus, 2008 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopidae)." Paleontologicheskii zhurnal, 2009(1): 108. Translated as: Ukrainsky, A.S. (2009). "Synonymy of the genera Nedoceratops Ukrainsky, 2007 and Diceratus Mateus, 2008 (Reptilia: Ornithischia: Ceratopidae)." Paleontological Journal, 2009 43(1):116.
- ^ a b c d e Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.483632, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with
|doi=10.1080/02724634.2010.483632instead.
Further reading
- Dodson, Peter (1996). The horned dinosaurs: a natural history. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-02882-6.
- Forster, Catherine A. (1996). "Species resolution in Triceratops: cladistic and morphometric approaches". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16: 259–270.
External links
- Diceratops from the Dinosaur Encyclopaedia (1999) at Dino Russ' Lair
- Diceratops hatcheri at DinoData
