Graciliceratops

Live reconstruction of Graciliceratops

• Mongolia

• G. mongoliensis Sereno, 2000

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

From Graciliceratops is so far only an incomplete skeleton known. His skull was like all higher Ceratopsia a polymer formed from the parietal and squamosal neck plate, whose edges were strikingly thin. Another characteristic of this dinosaur is that the lower leg was significantly longer than the upper thigh, which could indicate a fast runner. Like all ceratopsians he was herbivorous.

The fossil remains of Graciliceratops come from the Mongolian Gobi province Ömnö. The finds were originally attributed Microceratus (formerly Microceratops ), in 2000, the genus was first described. The genus name derives from the Latin gracilis ( = " slim " ) and the Greek keratops ( = " horn face" ), a common name component of the ceratopsians, from. Type species and only known species is G. mongoliensis. The finds are dated to the Upper Cretaceous ( Santonian to Campanian ) in age 86-72 million years.

Systematically Graciliceratops is incorporated within the Ceratopsia in the Protoceratopsidae.