Yamaceratops

Yamaceratops
Reconstruction of Yamaceratops
Temporal occurrence
Upper Cretaceous ( Santonium )
86.3 to 83.6 million years
Locations
Mongolia
Systematics
Pelvic dinosaur (Ornithischia) Cerapoda Marginocephalia Ceratopsia Neoceratopsia Yamaceratops
Scientific name
Yamaceratops
Makovicky & Norell, 2006
Art
Y. dorngobiensis Makovicky & Norell, 2006

Yamaceratops is a genus of pelvic dinosaurs (Ornithischia) from the group of Ceratopsia .

features

Yamaceratops was a small representative of the Ceratopsia, so far parts of the skull and isolated bones of the body (some vertebrae , parts of the pelvis and the hind legs) are known. As with all Ceratopsia, the snout was formed from the rostral bone (on the upper jaw) and the predentale (on the lower jaw), but the rostral bone was not yet keel-shaped as in later Neoceratopsians. In particular in the structure of the cheek region and the lower jaw bones, a middle position between primitive and more developed Ceratopsians can be seen in Yamaceratops . The small neck shield was made of parietal and scaled bones and , in the opinion of the first writer, was not used for display. As with all ceratopsians, the teeth suggest a plant-based diet. Like most of the basal Neoceratopsia, it should have moved mainly biped (two-legged).

Discovery and naming

The fossil remains of Yamaceratops were discovered in the province of Dorno-Gobi ("East Gobi") in Mongolia and first described in 2006 . The generic name is derived from the god of death Yama and the Greek keratops (= "horn face"), a common part of the name among Ceratopsians. Type species and the only species described is Y. dorngobiensis , the specific epithet describes the find province.

Systematics and dating

Yamaceratops is one of the original representatives of the Neoceratopsia within the Ceratopsia . According to the first description of the species, it is more highly developed than Liaoceratops , but more primitive than Archaeoceratops . The finds are dated in the Middle Upper Cretaceous ( Santonium ) to an age of about 86 to 84 million years.

literature

• Peter J. Makovicky , Mark A. Norell : Yamaceratops dorngobiensis, a new primitive ceratopsian (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Cretaceous of Mongolia (= American Museum Novitates. No. 3530, ISSN  0003-0082 ). American Museum of Natural History, New York NY 2006, online .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 252, online .