Open Paleo

Judiceratops

Longrich, 2013 JOO-dee-SERR-uh-tops /ˌdʒuːdiːˈsɛrətɒps/

Named after the Judith River Formation (where it was found) combined with Greek ceratops (horned face); meaning "Judith River horned face"

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

Judiceratops is an extinct horned dinosaur. It lived around 78 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now Montana, United States. Like other horned dinosaurs, Judiceratops was a large, quadrupedal herbivore. It is the oldest known chasmosaurine.

Diagnosis

  1. Caudal margin of parietal strongly convex, lacking emargination, with moderately thickened margin
  2. Epiparietals low and lying in plane of frill
  3. Anterior episquamosals enlarged; lateral episquamosals imbricated
  4. Postorbital horns moderately elongate, weakly curved posteriorly, strongly inclined anterolaterally, with teardrop-shaped cross section

Species

Judiceratops tigris Longrich, 2013

Type species

From Latin 'tigris' meaning 'tiger', referring to the tiger as mascot of Princeton University, in honor of the university's past efforts in field paleontology.

Holotype
YPM VPPU 022404 , Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
Material
Partial skull including postorbital horns, parts of frontals, prefrontals, and lacrimals, right squamosal and parietals, occipital condyle and supraoccipital.
Horizon
Judith River Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Canadian Creek, Montana, United States

Notable specimens

  • YPM VPPU 023262

    Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History complementary

    Referred specimen overlapping the holotype in the squamosal distal blade and postorbital horns, sharing the diagnostic teardrop horn shape. It adds anatomy unknown from the holotype: large scallops on the frill's proximal margins and a very broad, plate-like central bar.

    Longrich (2013)

References

  1. 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 longrich2013b
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a