Open Paleo

Vagaceratops

Sampson et al., 2010 VAH-guh-SEH-ruh-tops

From Latin vagus ('wandering') and Greek keratops ('horned face'), meaning 'wandering horned face', in reference to its close relationship with Kosmoceratops from Utah

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

Vagaceratops is a genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (late Campanian) in what is now Alberta. Its fossils have been recovered from the Upper Dinosaur Park Formation. It is sometimes included in the genus Chasmosaurus as Chasmosaurus irvinensis instead of being recognized as its own genus.

Diagnosis

  1. Jugal notch on proximal squamosal broadly rounded and open (not parallel sided)
  2. Transverse parietal bar straight
  3. Epiparietals (ep1-ep3) and epiparietosquamosal (eps) short, forming recurved flat laminae
  4. Predentary length one half that of dentary

Species

Vagaceratops irvinensis (Holmes et al., 2001)

Type species

First named as Chasmosaurus irvinensis

Named for the Irvine locality in Alberta, Canada, where the fossils were recovered.

Holotype
CMN 41357 , Canadian Museum of Nature
Material
A largely complete but fragmented skull and an articulated, nearly complete postcranial skeleton lacking most of the tail.
Horizon
upper Dinosaur Park Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
4.2 km southwest of Irvine, Alberta, Canada

References

  1. Sampson, S. D.; Loewen, M. A.; Farke, A. A.; Roberts, E. M.; Forster, C. A.; Smith, J. A.; Titus, A. L. (2010). New Horned Dinosaurs from Utah Provide Evidence for Intracontinental Dinosaur Endemism. PLoS ONE 5(9): e12292. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012292 sampson2010a
  2. Holmes, R. B.; Forster, C. A.; Ryan, M. J.; Shepherd, K. M. (2001). A new species of Chasmosaurus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) from the Dinosaur Park Formation of southern Alberta. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 38(10): 1423-1438. doi:10.1139/cjes-38-10-1423

    Original description (as Chasmosaurus irvinensis); designates and describes the holotype NMC 41357.

    holmes2001a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    jones2026a