Archaeoceratops

ancient horned face

• archaios · Greek · ancient
• keras · Greek · horn
• ops · Greek · face

The name combines Greek words for "ancient", "horn" and "face", meaning "ancient horned face". It was chosen because this small, primitive ceratopsian lived early in the group's history, though it had no true facial horns. The name highlights its position as a basal member of the horned-dinosaur lineage.

Named by

Dong and Azuma

Year named

1997

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Aptian – Albian

Found in

Xinminpu Group, Gansu Province, China

A small, bipedal basal ceratopsian. The type species is Archaeoceratops oshimai. A second species, A. yujingziensis, was named in 2010 but is sometimes placed in its own genus, Yamaceratops-unrelated; its status is debated.