Liaoceratops

Liaoning horned face

• Liao · Chinese (place name) · short for Liaoning Province, China
• keras · Greek · horn
• ops · Greek · face

Liaoceratops means "Liaoning horned face". It combines Liaoning Province in northeastern China, where the fossils were found, with the Greek words keras ("horn") and ops ("face"). The name echoes the "-ceratops" ending used for horned ceratopsian dinosaurs, although Liaoceratops itself was a small, early, hornless member of the group.

Named by

Xu et al.

Year named

2002

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Aptian

Found in

Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China

Type species is Liaoceratops yanzigouensis. It is a basal neoceratopsian known from a small skull, and it is one of the early ceratopsians that helps show how the group's frill and horns developed.