Diabloceratops
From Spanish diablo ('devil') + Greek ceratops ('horned face'), meaning 'devil-horned face', referring to the large, horn-like projections on the frill.
Diabloceratops is an extinct genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 81.4-81 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Utah, in the United States. Diabloceratops was a medium-sized, moderately built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 4.5 meters (15 ft) in length and 1.3 metric tons (1.4 short tons) in body mass. At the time of its discovery, it was the oldest-known ceratopsid, and first centrosaurine known from latitudes south of the U.S. state of Montana. The generic name Diabloceratops means "devil-horned face", coming from Diablo, Spanish for "devil", and ceratops, Latinized Greek for "horned face". The specific name honors Jeffrey Eaton, a paleontologist at Weber State University and long time friend of the lead author Jim Kirkland. Eaton had a big role in establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument where the specimen was found. The type species, Diabloceratops eatoni, was named and described in 2010 by James Ian Kirkland and Donald DeBlieux.
Diagnosis
- Large accessory antorbital fenestra bounded by premaxilla, maxilla, and nasal, with premaxilla excluded from contact with lacrimal by maxilla
- Preorbital skull is deep and shorter than other known centrosaurines
- Distinct epinasal present rostral to low, subconical narial horn
- Vertically oriented, blade-like epijugals larger than in any other described centrosaurine
- Erect frill widest at laterally directed squamosals, tapering by ~50% to a pair of elongate caudal parietal spines separated by a midline notch
- Parietal fenestrae are triangular and caudorostrally elongate; lateral parietal epoccipitals decrease in size caudally
Species
Diabloceratops eatoni Kirkland & DeBlieux, 2010
Type species
Named for Jeffrey Eaton, a paleontologist at Weber State University who had a significant role in establishing the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument where the holotype was found.
- Holotype
- UMNH VP 16699 , Utah Museum of Natural History
- Material
- Nearly complete skull preserving entire left side and portions of right side; right squamosal, half right postorbital horn, jugal, and part of maxilla lost to erosion.
- Horizon
- Reynolds Point Member, Wahweap Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
- Locality
- Last Chance Canyon, Utah, United States
References
- Kirkland, J. I.; DeBlieux, D. D. (2010). New basal centrosaurine ceratopsian skulls from the Wahweap Formation (middle Campanian), Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah. New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium (Ryan, M. J.; Chinnery-Allgeier, B. J.; Eberth, D. A., eds.) 117-140. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. kirkland2010a
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Beveridge, T. L.; Roberts, E. M.; Ramezani, J.; Titus, A. L.; Eaton, J. G.; Irmis, R. B.; Sertich, J. J. W. (2022). Refined geochronology and revised stratigraphic nomenclature of the Upper Cretaceous Wahweap Formation, Utah, U.S.A. and the age of early Campanian vertebrates from southern Laramidia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 591: 110876. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110876
Erects the Reynolds Point Member for the informal middle mudstone member of the Wahweap Formation, and places the holotype 105 m above the formation's base within it.
beveridge2022a -
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.
jones2026a