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Prenoceratops

Chinnery, 2004 PREE-no-SEH-ruh-tops

From Greek prene- (πρηνή, 'bent forwards' or 'prone'), cerat- (κερατ-, 'horn'), and ops (ωψ, 'face'), meaning 'bent or prone-horned face'

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

Prenoceratops, (meaning 'bent or prone-horned face' and derived from Greek prene-/πρηνη- meaning 'bent forwards' or 'prone', cerat-/κερατ- meaning 'horn' and -ops/ωψ meaning 'face') is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. It was a relatively small dinosaur, reaching 1.3 m (4.3 ft) in length and 20 kg (44 lb) in body mass. Its fossils have been found in the upper Two Medicine Formation in the present-day U.S. state of Montana, in Campanian age rock layers that have been dated to 74.3 million years ago. Fossils were also found in the Oldman Formation in the modern day Canadian province of Alberta, dating to around 77 million years ago.

Diagnosis

  1. Caudally oriented external naris
  2. Maxillary projection instead of maxillary shelf
  3. Rostral position of pterygoid-maxilla contact
  4. Constricted caudal portion of nasal
  5. Deep sharp frontal depression with straight transverse border
  6. Postorbital bar narrow in dorsal view, tall in lateral view
  7. Wide triangular jugal with rostral curvature of ventral tip
  8. Quadratojugal tall and compressed mediolaterally and rostrocaudally
  9. Very gracile surangular
  10. Reduced articular with corresponding inequality of quadrate condyles
  11. Entirely convex dorsal border of articular
  12. Reduced caudal expansion of coronoid

Species

Prenoceratops pieganensis Chinnery, 2004

Type species

Named for the Piegan (Pikuni) people of the Blackfeet Nation, on whose reservation in Montana the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
TCMI 2003.1.1 , The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Material
Surangular fused with articular
Horizon
upper Two Medicine Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Pondera County, on the Blackfeet Reservation, Montana, United States

References

  1. Chinnery, B. (2004). Description of Prenoceratops pieganensis gen. et sp. nov. (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(3): 572-590. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0572:doppge]2.0.co;2 chinnery2004a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    jones2026a