Open Paleo

Xuanhuaceratops

Zhao et al., 2006 schwan-ha-SEH-ruh-tops

Named after Xuanhua (a district in Hebei Province, China, near the discovery site), combined with Greek keras meaning 'horn' and ops meaning 'face'; translates as 'Xuanhua horned face'

149.2–143.1 million years ago Tithonian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Xuanhuaceratops is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period. The genus was in 2006 dated to the Tithonian, 150.8-145.5 million years ago. A member of the family Chaoyangsauridae, it was one of the earliest ceratopsians. The fossils were found in the Houcheng Formation of Hebei Province, northeastern China.

Diagnosis

  1. Single premaxillary tooth unlike other ceratopsians with premaxillary dentition
  2. Small overlap between quadratojugal and quadrate at caudal end of infratemporal fenestra
  3. Quadrate shafts directed obliquely caudoventrally
  4. Quadrate condyles separated by deep saddle-shaped sulcus
  5. Medial face of mandibular glenoid region thickened into semilunar process
  6. External surface of dentary thickened and sculptured with anastomosing grooves and ridges

Species

Xuanhuaceratops niei Zhao et al., 2006

Type species

Named for Nie Rongzhen, who discovered the first specimen in the 1970s and donated the holotype.

Holotype
IVPP 12722 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Partial skeleton comprising parts of premaxillae, maxilla, jugal, postorbital, frontal, quadratojugal, quadrates, pterygoids, ectopterygoid, mandible elements, vertebral column, scapulocoracoid, humeri, ischium, and hindlimb elements
Horizon
middle Houcheng Formation, Tithonian, Late Jurassic , 149.2–143.1 million years ago
Locality
Yanjiagou, Hebei, China

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Xuanhuasaurus nomen nudum Informal name; never met ICZN requirements for formal publication and is treated as referable to Xuanhuaceratops. Per Olshevsky's Dinosaur Genera List.

References

  1. Zhao, X.; Cheng, Z.; Xu, X.; Makovicky, P. J. (2006). A new ceratopsian from the Upper Jurassic Houcheng Formation of Hebei, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 80(4): 467-473. zhao2006a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    paul2024a