Protoceratops

first horned face

• protos · Greek · first
• keras · Greek · horn
• ops · Greek · face

The name combines Greek words for "first," "horn" and "face." Granger and Gregory chose it because they regarded the animal as an early, primitive relative of the horned dinosaurs such as Triceratops. Despite the name, Protoceratops had no true horns, only a bony neck frill and a bump on its snout.

Named by

Granger and Gregory

Year named

1923

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Djadochta Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia (and Inner Mongolia, China)

A small protoceratopsid ceratopsian. It is known from many specimens, including the famous "fighting dinosaurs" specimen preserved with a Velociraptor.