Arrhinoceratops
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| Genus: | Arrhinoceratops
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| Arrhinoceratops brachyops Parks, 1925
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Arrhinoceratops (meaning "no nose-horn face", derived from the Ancient Greek "a-/α-" "no", rhino-/ρινο- "nose" "cerat-/κερατ-" "horn", "-ops/ωψ" "face") is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur. The name was coined as its original describer concluded it had no nose-horn, however further analysis revealed this not to be the case.[1] It lived during the early Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, predating its famous relative Triceratops by a few million years, although it was contemporary with Anchiceratops.[1] Its remains have been found in Canada.[1]
Discoveries and species
Described by W. A. Parks in 1925, Arrhinoceratops is known from a partially crushed, slightly distorted skull which lacked a lower jaw. The remains were collected from deposits along the Red Deer River in Alberta by a 1923 expedition from the University of Toronto.[2]
Only one species is described, A. brachyops. Other material from Utah, named by Gilmore in 1946, was originally known as A. utahensis, thence transferred to Torosaurus.[3]
Classification
Arrhinoceratops belonged to the Ceratopsinae (previously known as Chasmosaurinae) within the Ceratopsia (the name is Ancient Greek for "horned face"), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks which thrived in North America and Asia during the Cretaceous Period, which ended roughly 65 million years ago. It appears to be closely related to Torosaurus.[1]
Physical description
Since this dinosaur is known only from its skull, scientists know little about its over-all anatomy. The skull features a broad neck frill with two oval shaped openings.[1] Its brow horns were moderately long, but its nose horn was shorter and blunter than most Ceratopsians.[1] Its body is assumed to be typical of the Ceratopsians, and based on the skull it is estimated to be Template:Unit length long when fully grown.[1]
Diet
Arrhinoceratops, 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.
Related animals
These ceratopsians were close relatives of Arrhinoceratops.
References
- Dodson, P. (1996). The Horned Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Pinceton, New Jersey, pp. xiv-346
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Arrhinoceratops." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, David B. The Age of Dinosaurs. Publications International, LTD. p. 127. ISBN 0-7853-0443-6.
- ^ Parks, W.A. (1925). "Arrhinoceratops brachyops, a new genus and species of Ceratopsia from the Edmonton Formation of Alberta". University of Toronto Studies, Geology Series 19:1-15
- ^ Hunt, R.K. and Lehman, T.M. (2008). "Attributes of the ceratopsian dinosaur Torosaurus, and new material from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of Texas". Journal of Paleontology 82(6): 1127-1138.