Genus
Valid Extinct

Archaeoceratops

Dong and Azuma 1997
Etymology Ancienne tête cornue

Archaeoceratops, meaning "ancient horned face", is a genus of basal neoceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of north central China. It appears to have been bipedal and quite small, reaching 0.9 m (3.0 ft) in length and 10 kg (22 lb) in body mass. It had a comparatively large head but no horns, possessing only a small bony frill projecting from the back of its head.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Archaeoceratops
click to enlarge
Skeletal mount of Archaeoceratops, housed in Tamba Dinosaur Museum © Palaeotaku · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Neornithischia Unranked clade
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Pyrodontia Unranked clade
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Cerapoda Unranked clade
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Marginocephalia Unranked clade
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Ceratopsia Suborder
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Neoceratopsia Infraorder
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Archaeoceratops Genus
Measurements
Length
0,75 m ⓘ
Archaeoceratops yujingziensis — min connu
1 m ⓘ
Archaeoceratops oshimai — max connu
1,3 m ⓘ
Mass
3 kg ⓘ
Archaeoceratops yujingziensis — min connu
7 kg ⓘ
Archaeoceratops oshimai — max connu
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
3
Geological formations
Zhonggou
2
Xiagou
1
Temporal distribution
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
2
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
1
Species (2)
Archaeoceratops oshimai 113 Ma
Archaeoceratops yujingziensis 121 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
Z. Dong and Y. Azuma. 1997. On a primitive neoceratopsian from the Early Cretaceous of China. Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition. China Ocean Press, Beijing
Bibliography (3)
H.-L. You, K. Tanoue, and P. Dodson. 2010. A new species of Archaeoceratops (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Early Cretaceous of the Mazongshan area, northwestern China. New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington
Z. Dong and Y. Azuma. 1997. On a primitive neoceratopsian from the Early Cretaceous of China. Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition. China Ocean Press, Beijing
Z. Dong. 1997. On the crocodiles from the Mazongshan area, Gansu Province, China. Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition. China Ocean Press, Beijing