Open Paleo

Navajoceratops

Fowler & Freedman Fowler, 2020 NA-vuh-ho-SEH-ruh-tops

Named after the Navajo people of the American Southwest, combined with Greek 'keras' (horn) and 'ops' (face); meaning 'Navajo horned face'.

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

Navajoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. The genus contains a single species, N. sullivani, named after Robert M. Sullivan, leader of the expeditions that recovered the holotype.

Diagnosis

  1. Lateral rami of parietal posterior bar meet medially at acute angle (~60°)
  2. Median embayment of parietal posterior bar especially deep, extending anterior to posteriormost extent of parietal fenestrae
  3. Lateral rami of posterior bar broadly rounded rather than angular
  4. Arches of M-shaped posterior bar with apices occurring between ep2 and ep3
  5. Posterior bar anteroposteriorly expanded laterally at ep3 locus

Species

Type species

Named for Robert M. Sullivan, the leader of the expeditions that recovered the holotype specimen.

Holotype
SMP VP-1500 , State Museum of Pennsylvania
Material
Parietal, squamosal fragments, fused jugal-epijugal, other unidentified cranial fragments
Horizon
lower Hunter Wash Member, Kirtland Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Denver's Blowout, New Mexico, United States

References

  1. Fowler, D. W.; Freedman Fowler, E. A. (2020). Transitional evolutionary forms in chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaurs: evidence from the Campanian of New Mexico. PeerJ 8: e9251. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.9251 fowler2020a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

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

    jones2026a