Brachyceratops

Live reconstruction of Brachyceratops

• North America (USA)

• B. montanensis Gilmore, 1914

Brachyceratops is a genus of bird Beck dinosaurs from the group of Ceratopsidae within the ceratopsians.

Features

From Brachyceratops only the poorly preserved remains of young animals are known to date. This reached a length of nearly two meters, the size of the full-grown animals is not known. The skull on her nose a short, thick horn, were above the eyes, as with the Centrosaurinae common bony protuberance and no horns. They had a neck shield, which was formed from the parietal and squamosal. Like all ceratopsians they were herbivores.

Discovery and designation

The fossils of Brachyceratops were found in the Two Medicine Formation in Montana, USA, and 1914 first described. There are the remains of several young animals, possibly siblings who stayed together after hatching. The genus name is derived from the Greek words brachys ( " short") and keratops ( " horn face "). Type species B. montanensis. The finds are (late Campanian ) dated to the Late Cretaceous to an age of about 76 to 72 million years.

System

As previously known only juveniles of Brachyceratops, a systematic classification is difficult. The features speak for one belonging to the Centrosaurinae within the Ceratopsidae. Since the distinguishing features in the horns and neck shields made ​​out in the Ceratopsidae only in adult animals, it may be that Brachyceratops represents only the young form of an already known species. Sampson et al. therefore advocate to lead Brachyceratops due to the scanty material as a nomen dubium.