Agujaceratops
Skeletal reconstruction of Agujaceratops mariscalensis. From Samson et al., 2010
- USA
- A. mariscalensis ( Lehman, 1989)
Agujaceratops is a genus of bird Beck dinosaurs from the group of Ceratopsidae within the ceratopsians. The type species A. mariscalensis is the only species of the genus described. The fossils are from the Upper Cretaceous of western North America.
Features
Agujaceratops similar in physique and the closely related Chasmosaurus Pentaceratops. The skull is large and bulky, as with all Ceratopsidae and the muzzle is pointed and parrot beak shaped. The cheek region is widely spreading, so that the top of his head looks almost triangular. On the nose sat a short horn, two more curved back horns were located above the eyes. The neck shield was formed as with all Ceratopsidae out of the shed and the parietal bone, the parietal bone was remarkably short and wide. The neck plate was wider towards the rear and was slightly bent at the top, back edge, making it slightly affects heart-shaped. Like all Ceratopsidae Agujaceratops consumed plant food and had to tooth batteries, which are arranged in rows of teeth that have been replaced after wear through to the underlying tooth. The weight is based on the thigh: estimated to 709.5 kg (length 55.4 cm). He moved away quadruped ( four legged ).
Discovery and classification
The fossil remains of Agujaceratops mariscalensis were found in the southwest of the U.S. state of Texas and first described in 1989, but mariscalensis as Chasmosaurus, so as a new species of the genus Chasmosaurus. In some features, the findings from the other Chasmosaurus species differ significantly and have greater similarities with Pentaceratops, so Lucas et al. 2006 Art in the einordneten of them newly established species Agujaceratops, which Chasmosaurus mariscalensis is an objective synonym. Also paläobiogeographisch this separation seems justified, since the other types of Chasmosaurus older and only from Canada, which is significantly further north, are known.
The name is derived from the locality, the Aguja Formation, and the Greek keratops ( " horn face" ), a common name component of the ceratopsians, from. The finds are (late Campanian ) dated to the Late Cretaceous to an age of about 76 to 72 million years. The holotype is UTEP P.37.3.086.