Liaoceratops
From 'Liaoning' (the Chinese province where it was discovered) combined with Greek 'keras' (horn) and 'ops' (face); meaning 'Liaoning horned face'
Early Cretaceous stages
Liaoceratops, meaning "Liaoning horned face", is a ceratopsian dinosaur believed to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids. It lived in the Early Cretaceous, 126 million years ago. It was discovered in China by a team of American and Chinese scientists. Liaoceratops was much smaller than its later relatives, but offers a glimpse into the early evolution of this group of dinosaurs.
Diagnosis
- Sutures between premaxilla, maxilla, nasal and prefrontal intersecting at a common point high on the side of the snout
- Several tubercles on the ventral margin of the angular
- Foramen on the posterior face of the quadrate near the articulation with the quadratojugal
- Small tubercle on the dorsal border of the foramen magnum
- Thick posterior border of the parietal frill
Species
Liaoceratops yanzigouensis Xu et al., 2002
Type species
Named for Yanzigou, the town in Liaoning Province, China, near where the holotype was discovered.
- Holotype
- IVPP V12738 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
- Material
- Almost complete skull; referred juvenile skull
- Horizon
- lower Yixian Formation, Barremian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–121.4 million years ago
- Locality
- Yanzigou, Shangyuan, Liaoning, China
References
- Xu, X.; Makovicky, P. J.; Wang, X. L.; Norell, M. A.; You, H. L. (2002). A ceratopsian dinosaur from China and the early evolution of Ceratopsia. Nature 416(6878): 314-317. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/416314a xu2002b
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Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the appearance features.
jones2026a