Auroraceratops

Speculative reconstruction of Auroraceratops

• China

• A. rugosus You et al. 2,005

Auroraceratops is a genus of bird Beck dinosaur ( Ornithischia ) from the group of ceratopsians, within which he is counted among the primitive representatives of Neoceratopsia.

Features

So far only the skull of Auroraceratops known, who was about 20 inches long. Compared with other Neoceratopsia his snout was short and wide. Characteristic included the much wider nasal bones, a mushroom-shaped extension at the rear end of the lacrimal bone and roughened places around the eye, on the cheek and the lower jaw. On Zwischenkieferbein were some greatly enlarged teeth, which is a primordial feature. The teeth were adapted as with all Ceratopsia to a vegetable diet. About the rest of the Body of this dinosaur is not known, it may be moved like other basal Neoceratopsia mainly with the hind legs ( biped ) away. Its body length is estimated to be about 5 to 6 m.

Discovery and designation

The fossil remains of Auroraceratops were discovered in the Xinminbao group in the Chinese province of Gansu and first described in 2005. In the same formation few years has been found previously by another basal archaeoceratops Neoceratopsier. The genus name derives from the Latin aurora ( = " dawn " ) and the Greek keratops ( = " horn face" ), a common name component in ceratopsians, from. The " Dawn " is on the one hand a reference to the old age and the primitive character of this dinosaur, on the other honors Dawn Dodson ( dawn = English for " dawn " ), the wife of one of the first to describe, Peter Dodson. Type species and only known species is A. rugosus. The finds are in the late Early Cretaceous ( Aptian ), an age 126-113 million years dated. This Auroraceratops is one of the oldest known representatives of Neoceratopsia.