Open Paleo

Avaceratops

Dodson, 1986 AY-va-SER-a-tops

Named after Ava Cole, wife of fossil hunter Eddie Cole who discovered the specimen, combined with Greek 'ceratops' meaning 'horned face'. The species name honors the Lammers family, owners of the Careless Creek Ranch where the fossil was found.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Avaceratops is a genus of small herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaurs which lived during the late Campanian in what are now the Northwest United States. Most fossils come from the Judith River Formation.

Diagnosis

  1. Short-squamosaled ceratopsid with distinctive robust squamosal bearing a long rostral portion that equals or exceeds the length of the caudal portion
  2. Squamosal prominent in frill outline and does not continue the smooth curve of the parietal border, having its own center and radius of curvature
  3. Parietal fan-shaped and thin, with no sagittal emargination along the caudal margin; parietal fenestrae apparently absent (solid frill inferred)
  4. Jugal thin, unsculptured, and lacking a central ridge
  5. Maxilla robust with a strong medial longitudinal ridge
  6. Occipital condyle fully fused (no sutural trace) at a small diameter of 38 mm, suggesting an unusual growth pattern

Species

Avaceratops lammersi Dodson, 1986

Type species

Named for the Lammers family, owners of the Careless Creek Ranch in Montana where the first remains were discovered.

Holotype
ANSP 15800 , Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia
Material
Partial skull and skeleton including much of the skull, most of the appendicular skeleton, and representative vertebrae and ribs.
Horizon
lower McClelland Ferry Member, Judith River Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Careless Creek, Montana, United States

References

  1. Ishikawa, H.; Tsuihiji, T.; Manabe, M. (2023). Furcatoceratops elucidans, a new centrosaurine (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the upper Campanian Judith River Formation, Montana, USA. Cretaceous Research 151. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105660

    Places the holotype, ANSP 15800, in "the lower McClelland Ferry Member of the Judith River Formation".

    ishikawa2023a
  2. Dodson, P. (1986). Avaceratops lammersi: a new ceratopsid from the Judith River Formation of Montana. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 138(2): 305-317. dodson1986a