Cerasinops

Live reconstruction of Cerasinops

• North America

Cerasinops is a genus of bird Beck dinosaur ( Ornithischia ) from the group of ceratopsians.

Features

Cerasinops was a relatively small, about 1 meter tall dinosaur. As with all Ceratopsia the elongated snout of the Rostralknochen and the Praedentale was formed. The premaxillary bone ( in front of the upper jaw bone ) was provided with teeth, which is a primordial feature. The head was big and bulky like many ceratopsians, the back end was that for this dinosaur group typical neck plate, which was relatively short, but high. The teeth were adapted to a plant-based diet.

The forelimbs were much shorter than the hind legs, Cerasinops likely to have moved biped ( two-legged ) most of the time.

Discovery and designation

The fossil remains of Cerasinops were discovered in the Two Medicine Formation in Montana, USA. The finds were known for over two decades by the nickname " Cera " before the formal first description in 2007 was made. The name derives from the Latin cerasinus ( " belonging to the cherry ," a reference to the nickname and an allusion to the dark red color of the finds) and the Greek ops ( "face" ) from. Type species and only known species is C. hodgskissi. The finds are dated to the Upper Cretaceous ( Santonian ) to an age 86-84 million years.

System

Cerasinops is classified within the Ceratopsia as primitive representatives of Neoceratopsia. The dinosaur represents an important transitional form between the primitive Asian and North American ceratopsians more developed represents the teeth in the premaxillary bone are a feature of Asian animals and otherwise at the North American ceratopsian unknown, while the traces of wear of the teeth similar to those of North American animals. Cladistic analyzes Cerasinops position as sister taxon of Leptoceratopsidae.