Agujaceratops

Agujaceratops
	Skeletal reconstruction of Agujaceratops mariscalensis . From Samson et al., 2010
Temporal occurrence
	Upper Cretaceous (late Campanium )
	76.4 to 72 million years
Locations
	United States;
Systematics
	Marginocephalia
	Ceratopsia
	Neoceratopsia
	Ceratopsidae
	Chasmosaurinae
	Agujaceratops
Scientific name
	Agujaceratops
	Lucas , Sullivan & Hunt , 2006
Art
	A. mariscalensis (Lehman, 1989) ;

Agujaceratops is a genus of pelvic dinosaurs from the group of Ceratopsidae within the Ceratopsia . The type species A. mariscalensis is the only described species of the genus. The fossil finds come from the Upper Cretaceous in western North America.

features

Live reconstruction of Agujaceratops mariscalensis

Agujaceratops resembles the closely related Chasmosaurus and Pentaceratops in its physique . The skull is large, as with all Ceratopsidae and bulky and the muzzle is pointed and parrot beak-shaped. The cheek region is wide, so that the head looks almost triangular from above. A short horn sat on the nasal bone , and two more, curved back horns were above the eyes. The neck shield was like all Ceratopsidae from dandruff and the parietal bone formed, the parietal bone was remarkably short and wide. The neck shield was wider towards the rear and was slightly curved at the upper, rear edge, making it look slightly heart-shaped. Like all Ceratopsidae , Agujaceratops consumed plant-based food and had dental batteries , teeth arranged in rows that were replaced by the underlying tooth when they were worn out. The weight is estimated at 709.5 kilograms based on the thigh (length: 55.4 centimeters). He moved quadruped (four-legged).

Discovery and systematics

The fossil remains of Agujaceratops mariscalensis were found in the southwest of the US state Texas and were first described in 1989 , but as Chasmosaurus mariscalensis , i.e. as a new species of the genus Chasmosaurus . In some features, however, the finds differ significantly from the other Chasmosaurus species and show stronger similarities with Pentaceratops , so that Lucas et al. 2006 classified the species in the newly established genus Agujaceratops , making Chasmosaurus mariscalensis an objective synonym . This separation also seems to be justified from a paleobiogeographical point of view , since the other species of Chasmosaurus are older and only known from Canada , i.e. significantly further north.

The name is derived from the place where it was found, the aguja formation, and the Greek keratops ("horn face"), a common part of the Ceratopsia name. The finds are dated in the Upper Cretaceous (late Campanium ) to an age of about 76 to 72 million years. The holotype is UTEP P.37.3.086.

supporting documents

literature

Peter Dodson , Catherine A. Forster, Scott D. Sampson: Ceratopsidae. In: David B. Weishampel , Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 494-513.

Spencer G. Lucas, Robert M. Sullivan, Adrian Hunt: Re-evaluation of Pentaceratops and Chasmosaurus (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) in the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior. In: Spencer G. Lucas, Robert M. Sullivan (Eds.): Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior (= New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Bulletin. Vol. 35, ISSN 1524-4156 ). New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque 2006, pp. 367-370, digital version (PDF; 1.26 MB) .

Individual evidence

↑ Scott D. Sampson, Mark A. Loewen, Andrew A. Farke, Eric M. Roberts, Catherine A. Forster, Joshua A. Smith, Alan L. Titus: New Horned Dinosaurs from Utah Provide Evidence for Intracontinental Dinosaur Endemism. In: PLoS ONE . Vol. 5, No. 9, 2010, e12292, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0012292 .
^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , pp. 271-272, online .
↑ ^a ^b † Agujaceratops mariscalensis Lehman 1989 . In: The Paleobiology Database . Last accessed on September 23, 2014.

Web links

Commons : Agujaceratops - collection of images, videos and audio files

[PLOS-1] Scott D. Sampson, Mark A. Loewen, Andrew A. Farke, Eric M. Roberts, Catherine A. Forster, Joshua A. Smith, Alan L. Titus: New Horned Dinosaurs from Utah Provide Evidence for Intracontinental Dinosaur Endemism. In: PLoS ONE . Vol. 5, No. 9, 2010, e12292, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0012292 .

[2] Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , pp. 271-272, online .

[PalDB-3] † Agujaceratops mariscalensis Lehman 1989 . In: The Paleobiology Database . Last accessed on September 23, 2014.