Open Paleo

Ceratops

Marsh, 1888 SEH-ruh-tops Nomen dubium

From Greek keras (horn) and ops (face); meaning "horn face".

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

Ceratops is a dubious genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in the Judith River Formation in Montana. Although poorly known, Ceratops is important in the history of dinosaurs, since it is the type genus for which both the Ceratopsia and the Ceratopsidae have been named.

Species

Ceratops montanus Marsh, 1888 Nomen dubium

Type species

From Latin montanus ("of Montana"), referring to the type-locality state.

Holotype
USNM 2411 , National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Material
A pair of supraorbital horn-cores (~22 cm long) and an elongated basioccipital forming the occipital condyle.
Horizon
upper Judith River Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Cow Creek, Montana, United States

Synonyms

  • Proceratops montanus junior objective

    Replacement name proposed by Lull (1906) on the mistaken belief that Ceratops Marsh, 1888 was preoccupied by Ceratops Rafinesque, 1815; the Rafinesque name was a nomen nudum, leaving Ceratops Marsh available. As an unnecessary replacement name it carries the same type, so it is an objective synonym.

References

  1. Marsh, O. C. (1888). A new family of horned Dinosauria, from the Cretaceous. American Journal of Science s3-36(216): 477-478. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-36.216.477

    Erects Ceratops montanus on a horn-pair plus basioccipital from the Judith River Formation of Montana, and erects the family Ceratopsidae in the same paper.

    marsh1888b
  2. Lull, R. S. (1906). A new name for the dinosaurian genus Ceratops. American Journal of Science s4-21(122): 144. doi:10.2475/ajs.s4-21.122.144 lull1906a
  3. Ryan, M. J. (2007). A new basal centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Oldman Formation, southeastern Alberta. Journal of Paleontology 81(2): 376-396. Cambridge University Press (CUP). doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2007)81[376:anbccf]2.0.co;2

    Finds isolated horncores of limited use for diagnosing chasmosaurine taxa.

    ryan2007a
  4. Mallon, J. C.; Ott, C. J.; Larson, P. L.; Iuliano, E. M.; Evans, D. C. (2016). Spiclypeus shipporum gen. et sp. nov., a Boldly Audacious New Chasmosaurine Ceratopsid (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Judith River Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of Montana, USA. PLOS ONE 11(5): e0154218. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154218

    Notes the long-standing nomen dubium status and raises the possibility that the horncores belong to Spiclypeus.

    mallon2016a
  5. Longrich, N. R. (2013). Judiceratops tigris, a New Horned Dinosaur from the Middle Campanian Judith River Formation of Montana. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54(1): 51-65. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. doi:10.3374/014.054.0103

    Reads the Ceratops horncores as most likely those of a primitive centrosaurine.

    longrich2013b
  6. Madzia, D.; Arbour, V. M.; Boyd, C. A.; Farke, A. A.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Evans, D. C. (2021). The phylogenetic nomenclature of ornithischian dinosaurs. PeerJ 9: e12362. doi:10.7717/peerj.12362

    Uses Ceratops montanus as a specifier of Ceratopsia and finds it not diagnostic beyond Ceratopsidae.

    madzia2021a