Albertaceratops

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Albertaceratops
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 77.5  Ma
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Philip J. Currie Albertaceratops.jpg
Skull in Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Suborder: Ceratopsia
Family: Ceratopsidae
Subfamily: Centrosaurinae
Genus: Albertaceratops
Ryan, 2007
Species:
A. nesmoi
Binomial name
Albertaceratops nesmoi
Ryan, 2007

Albertaceratops (meaning "Alberta horned face") was a genus of centrosaurine horned dinosaur from the middle Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Oldman Formation of Alberta, Canada. [1]

Contents

Description

Restoration Albertaceratops BW.jpg
Restoration

Albertaceratops is unusual in combining long brow horns with an otherwise centrosaurine skull, as centrosaurines normally possess short brow horns. Over its nose was a bony ridge, and on its frill were two large outwardly-projecting hooks. [1] Its size has been estimated at 5.8 metres (19 ft) and 3,500 kilograms (7,700 lb). [2]

Discovery and naming

Skull of the Albertaceratops nesmoi holotype, TMP 2001.26.1 Albertaceratops nesmoi skull by Nick Longrich.jpg
Skull of the Albertaceratops nesmoi holotype, TMP 2001.26.1

Albertaceratops is known from a single complete skull (TMP.2001.26.1) found in August 2001 and skull and postcranial fragments. A phylogenetic analysis carried out by its describer, Michael J. Ryan, found it to be the most basal centrosaurine. [1] Additional specimens were reported from a bonebed in the Judith River Formation of Montana, which is equivalent to the Oldman Formation and differentiated only by the Canada–US border. However, further study showed these remains to come from a different centrosaurine, Medusaceratops . Both ceratopsids lived during the same time period, about 77.5 million years ago. [3]

The specific name, A. nesmoi, is derived from the name of Cecil Nesmo, a rancher living in Manyberries, Alberta, a town of less than 100 people located 71 km south of Medicine Hat. The rancher was thus honored in recognition of his efforts to aid fossil hunters. [1]

Classification

Coronosaurus and Albertaceratops in environment Coronosaurus and Albertaceratops.jpg
Coronosaurus and Albertaceratops in environment
Size of Albertaceratops compared to a human Albertaceratops Scale.svg
Size of Albertaceratops compared to a human

The cladogram presented below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Chiba et al. (2017), which included a systematic re-evaluation of Medusaceratops lokii: [4]

Centrosaurinae

Diabloceratops eatoni

Machairoceratops cronusi

Nasutoceratopsini

Avaceratops lammersi (ANSP 15800)

MOR 692

CMN 8804

Nasutoceratops titusi

Malta new taxon

Xenoceratops foremostensis

Sinoceratops zhuchengensis

Wendiceratops pinhornensis

Albertaceratops nesmoi

Medusaceratops lokii

Eucentrosaura
Centrosaurini

Rubeosaurus ovatus

Styracosaurus albertensis

Coronosaurus brinkmani

Centrosaurus apertus

Spinops sternbergorum

Pachyrhinosaurini

Einiosaurus procurvicornis

Pachyrostra

Achelousaurus horneri

Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis

Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai

Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Styracosaurus</i> Genus of ceratopsian dinosaurs

Styracosaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. It had four to six long parietal spikes extending from its neck frill, a smaller jugal horn on each of its cheeks, and a single horn protruding from its nose, which may have been up to 60 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide. The function or functions of the horns and frills have been debated for many years.

<i>Achelousaurus</i> Genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from North America

Achelousaurus is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America, about 74.2 million years ago. The first fossils of Achelousaurus were collected in Montana in 1987, by a team led by Jack Horner, with more finds made in 1989. In 1994, Achelousaurus horneri was described and named by Scott D. Sampson; the generic name means "Achelous lizard", in reference to the Greek deity Achelous, and the specific name refers to Horner. The genus is known from a few specimens consisting mainly of skull material from individuals, ranging from juveniles to adults.

<i>Centrosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Centrosaurus is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur from Campanian age of Late Cretaceous Canada. Their remains have been found in the Dinosaur Park Formation, dating from 76.5 to 75.5 million years ago.

Avaceratops is a genus of small herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaurs which lived during the late Campanian during the Late Cretaceous Period in what are now the Northwest United States. Most fossils come from the Judith River Formation.

<i>Medusaceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Medusaceratops is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana, northern United States. It contains a single species, Medusaceratops lokii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith River Formation</span> Fossil-bearing geologic formation in Montana, part of the Judith River Group

The Judith River Formation is a fossil-bearing geologic formation in Montana, and is part of the Judith River Group. It dates to the Late Cretaceous, between 79 and 75.3 million years ago, corresponding to the "Judithian" land vertebrate age. It was laid down during the same time period as portions of the Two Medicine Formation of Montana and the Oldman Formation of Alberta. It is an historically important formation, explored by early American paleontologists such as Edward Drinker Cope, who named several dinosaurs from scrappy remains found here on his 1876 expedition. Modern work has found nearly complete skeletons of the hadrosaurid Brachylophosaurus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centrosaurinae</span> Extinct subfamily of dinosaurs

Centrosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratopsid, a group of large quadrupedal ornithischian dinosaur. Centrosaurine fossil remains are known primarily from the northern region of Laramidia but isolated taxa have been found in China and Utah as well.

<i>Diabloceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Diabloceratops is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 81.4-81 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Utah, in the United States. Diabloceratops was a medium-sized, moderately built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 4.5 metres (15 ft) in length and 1.3 metric tons in body mass. At the time of its discovery, it was the oldest-known ceratopsid, and first centrosaurine known from latitudes south of the U.S. state of Montana. The generic name Diabloceratops means "devil-horned face," coming from Diablo, Spanish for "devil," and ceratops, Latinized Greek for "horned face." The specific name honors Jeffrey Eaton, a paleontologist at Weber State University and long time friend of the lead author Jim Kirkland. Eaton had a big role in establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument where the specimen was found. The type species, Diabloceratops eatoni, was named and described in 2010 by James Ian Kirkland and Donald DeBlieux.

<i>Sinoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Sinoceratops is an extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 73 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Shandong province in China. It was named in 2010 by Xu Xing et al. for three skulls from Zhucheng, China. The name of its type species Sinoceratops zhuchengensis means "Chinese horned face from Zhucheng", after the location of its discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pachyrhinosaurini</span> Extinct tribe of dinosaurs

Pachyrhinosaurini is a tribe of centrosaurine dinosaurs. The clade existed during the Late Cretaceous, about 83.6 to 68.5 million years ago, evolving during the early Campanian, and becoming extinct in the Maastrichtian. The tribe contains five genera: Styracosaurus, Stellasaurus, Einiosaurus, Achelousaurus, and Pachyrhinosaurus. Pachyrhinosaurus and Achelousaurus form the clade of pachyrhinosaurins called the Pachyrostra ("thick-snouts"), characterized primarily by their nasal bosses.

<i>Nasutoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Nasutoceratops is an extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur. It is a basal centrosaurine which lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been found in southern Utah, United States. Nasutoceratops was a large, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore with a short snout and unique rounded horns above its eyes that have been likened to those of modern cattle. Extending almost to the tip of its snout, these horns are the longest of all the members of the centrosaurine subfamily. The presence of pneumatic elements in the nasal bones of Nasutoceratops are a unique trait and are unknown in any other ceratopsid.

<i>Spinops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Spinops is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, southern Canada. It was a medium-sized ceratopsian, reaching 4.5 metres (15 ft) in length and 1.3 metric tons in body mass.

<i>Xenoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Xenoceratops is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous, and is known to have lived in what is currently Alberta, Canada. The genus has one known species, Xenoceratops foremostensis. Its remains were discovered in the Foremost Formation.

<i>Coronosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Coronosaurus is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaurs which lived in the Late Cretaceous, in the middle Campanian stage. Its remains, two bone beds, were discovered by Phillip J. Currie in the Oldman Formation of Alberta, Canada, and its type and only species, Coronosaurus brinkmani, was first described in 2005, as a new species within the genus Centrosaurus. Later studies questioned the presence of a direct relationship, and in 2012 it was named as a separate genus. Coronosaurus means "crowned lizard", coming from "corona", Latin for crown, and "sauros", Greek for lizard; this name refers to the unique, crown-like shape of the horns on the top of its frill.

<i>Judiceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Judiceratops is an extinct horned dinosaur. It lived around 78 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now Montana, United States. Like other horned dinosaurs, Judiceratops was a large, quadrupedal herbivore. It is the oldest known chasmosaurine.

<i>Mercuriceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<i>Wendiceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Wendiceratops is a genus of herbivorous centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Canada.

<i>Machairoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Machairoceratops, previously known as the "Wahweap centrosaurine B", is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Wahweap Formation of Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, southern Utah, United States.

<i>Yehuecauhceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Yehuecauhceratops is a genus of horned centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Coahuila, Mexico. It contains a single species, Y. mudei, described from two partial specimens by Rivera-Sylva et al. in 2016 and formally named by Rivera-Sylva et al. in 2017. It was a small centrosaurine with a body length of 3 metres (9.8 ft), making it smaller than Agujaceratops and Coahuilaceratops, the other two ceratopsids in its environment; the three may have been ecologically segregated. A ridge bearing a single roughened projection near the bottom of the squamosal bone, which probably supported a small horn, allows Yehuecauhceratops to be distinguished from other centrosaurines. Its affinities to nasutoceratopsin centrosaurines, such as Avaceratops and Nasutoceratops, are supported by various morphological similarities to the former.

<i>Furcatoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Furcatoceratops is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Judith River Formation of Montana. The type species is Furcatoceratops elucidans.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ryan, Michael J. (2007). "A New Basal Centrosaurine Ceratopsid from the Oldman Formation, Southeastern Alberta". Journal of Paleontology. 81 (2): 376–396. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2007)81[376:ANBCCF]2.0.CO;2. ISSN   0022-3360. S2CID   130607301.
  2. Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 259
  3. Ryan, Michael J.; Russell, Anthony P., and Hartman, Scott. (2010). "A New Chasmosaurine Ceratopsid from the Judith River Formation, Montana", In: Michael J. Ryan, Brenda J. Chinnery-Allgeier, and David A. Eberth (eds), New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium, Indiana University Press, 656 pp. ISBN   0-253-35358-0.
  4. Kentaro Chiba; Michael J. Ryan; Federico Fanti; Mark A. Loewen; David C. Evans (2018). "New material and systematic re-evaluation of Medusaceratops lokii (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Judith River Formation (Campanian, Montana)". Journal of Paleontology. 92 (2): 272–288. doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.62. S2CID   134031275.