Tatankaceratops

bison horned face

• tatanka · Lakota · bison, buffalo
• keras · Greek · horn
• ops · Greek · face

The name combines the Lakota word "tatanka", meaning bison or buffalo, with the Greek "keratops", meaning "horned face". It honours the Lakota people of the region where the fossil was found, and the bison that is an emblem of the Great Plains. The only known specimen is a small, short-faced skull.

Named by

Ott and Larson

Year named

2010

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota, USA

Type species is T. sacrisonorum, a ceratopsid known from a single small skull. Its validity is disputed. Some researchers think the specimen is a juvenile or a dwarfed or abnormal individual of Triceratops or a related ceratopsid. I have kept the status as "accepted" because the name was published as a valid genus and has not been formally synonymised.