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Sierraceratops Silhouette By Nick Longrich
''Sierraceratops'' (meaning " Sierra horned face") is a genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsian from the Late Cretaceous Hall Lake Formation of New Mexico, United States. The genus contains a single species, ''Sierraceratops turneri'', known from a partial skeleton discovered in 1997. Discovery In 1997, geologist Gregory H. Mack discovered fossils of a large horned dinosaur on the Armendaris ranch of Ted Turner, founder of CNN, near Truth or Consequences in Sierra County, New Mexico. They had been exposed on the surface by erosion. A team of the Natural History Museum of New Mexico subsequently uncovered more bones with the cooperation of the ranch manager, Tom Wadell. In 1998, the discovery was reported in the scientific literature and referred to ''Torosaurus latus''.Lucas, S.G.; Mark, G.H. & Estep, J.W. 1998. "The ceratopsian ''Torosaurus'' from the Upper Cretaceous McRae Formation, Sierra County, New Mexico" In: ''New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 49th Field Conference, Las ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia and Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sierraceratops Silhouette By Nick Longrich
''Sierraceratops'' (meaning " Sierra horned face") is a genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsian from the Late Cretaceous Hall Lake Formation of New Mexico, United States. The genus contains a single species, ''Sierraceratops turneri'', known from a partial skeleton discovered in 1997. Discovery In 1997, geologist Gregory H. Mack discovered fossils of a large horned dinosaur on the Armendaris ranch of Ted Turner, founder of CNN, near Truth or Consequences in Sierra County, New Mexico. They had been exposed on the surface by erosion. A team of the Natural History Museum of New Mexico subsequently uncovered more bones with the cooperation of the ranch manager, Tom Wadell. In 1998, the discovery was reported in the scientific literature and referred to ''Torosaurus latus''.Lucas, S.G.; Mark, G.H. & Estep, J.W. 1998. "The ceratopsian ''Torosaurus'' from the Upper Cretaceous McRae Formation, Sierra County, New Mexico" In: ''New Mexico Geological Society Guidebook, 49th Field Conference, Las ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agujaceratops Mariscalensis
''Agujaceratops'' (meaning "horned face from Aguja") is a genus of horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of west Texas. It is a chasmosaurine (long-frilled) ceratopsian. Two species are known, ''Agujaceratops mariscalensis'', and ''A''. ''mavericus''. Discovery and species In 1938, three dinosaur bone beds were excavated, and ceratopsian material was collected from Big Bend National Park (Texas) by William Strain. This material was studied by Lehman in 1989 and named ''Chasmosaurus mariscalensis''. It is known only from the holotype UTEP P.37.7.086 a partial adult skull which includes a braincase, left supraorbital horncore, left maxilla and a right dentary. Additional material was associated with the holotype, but not considered to be part of it. All specimens of ''Agujaceratops'' were collected from the lower part of the Upper Shale member of the Aguja Formation, dating to about 77 million years ago, in the Big Bend National Park, Brewster County. Add ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chasmosaurus
''Chasmosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period of North America. Its name means 'opening lizard', referring to the large openings ( fenestrae) in its frill (Greek ''chasma'' meaning 'opening' or 'hollow' or 'gulf' and ''sauros'' meaning 'lizard'). With a length of and a weight of , ''Chasmosaurus'' was a ceratopsian of average size. Like all ceratopsians, it was purely herbivorous. It was initially to be called ''Protorosaurus'', but this name had been previously published for another animal. All specimens of ''Chasmosaurus'' were collected from the Dinosaur Park Formation of the Dinosaur Provincial Park of Alberta, Canada. Referred specimens of ''C. russelli'' come from the lower beds of the formation while ''C. belli'' comes from middle and upper beds. Discovery and species In 1898, at ''Berry Creek'', Alberta, Lawrence Morris Lambe of the Geological Survey of Canada made the first discovery of ''Chasmosaurus'' remains; holotype NMC 4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judiceratops
''Judiceratops'' ( ; meaning " Judith River horned face") is an extinct horned dinosaur. It lived around 78 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now Montana, United States. Like other horned dinosaurs, ''Judiceratops'' was a large, quadrupedal herbivore. It is the oldest known chasmosaurine. Description The holotype YPM VPPU 022404 consists of an incomplete skull including the horns, parts of the frills, and fragments from the back of the frill. Other fragmentary specimens are known from the same area, which preserve distinctive features of the frill. ''Judiceratops'' shows a distinctive combination of characters, not seen in other ceratopsids. Its frill (parietal bone) has a broad midline bar, a rounded caudal margin, and reduced osteoderms (bony projections) on the rear edge of the frill, the epiparietals. The osteoderms on the lateral margins of the frill are large near the front, but small towards the back. The postorbital (located above the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercuriceratops
''Mercuriceratops'' is an extinct genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian stage) of Alberta, Canada and Montana, United States. It contains a single species, ''Mercuriceratops gemini''. Discovery In 2007, Triebold Paleontology Inc found frill elements in Fergus County, Montana. In 2014, the type species ''Mercuriceratops gemini'' was named and described by Michael Ryan, David Evans, Philip John Currie and Mark Loewen. The generic name combines the name of the Roman god Mercury, a reference to the similarity of the neck shield to the winged helmet of the messenger of the gods, with ~ceratops, "horn face", a usual suffix in ceratopian names. The specific name is that of the constellation Gemini, named after the twins Castor and Pollux, in reference to the similar specimens the species is based on. The species is represented only by two squamosal bones collected from approximately time-equivalent sections of the upper Judit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin ''creta'', "chalk", which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation ''Kreide''. The Cretaceous was a period with a relatively warm climate, resulting in high eustatic sea levels that created numerous shallow inland seas. These oceans and seas were populated with now- extinct marine reptiles, ammonites, and rudists, while dinosaurs continued to dominate on land. The world was ice free, and forests extended to the poles. During this time, new groups of mammals and birds appeared. During the Early Cretaceous, flowering plants appeared and began to rapidly diversify, becoming the dominant group of plants across the Earth b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laramidia
Laramidia was an island continent that existed during the Late Cretaceous period (99.6–66 Ma), when the Western Interior Seaway split the continent of North America in two. In the Mesozoic era, Laramidia was an island land mass separated from Appalachia to the east by the Western Interior Seaway. The seaway eventually shrank, split across the Dakotas, and retreated toward the Gulf of Mexico and the Hudson Bay. The masses joined, forming the continent of North America. Laramidia is named after the Laramide orogeny. The name was coined by J. David Archibald in 1996. Geography Laramidia stretched from modern-day Alaska to Mexico. The area is rich in dinosaur fossils. Tyrannosaurs, dromaeosaurids, troodontids, hadrosaurs, ceratopsians (including ''Kosmoceratops'' and ''Utahceratops''), pachycephalosaurs, and titanosaur sauropods are some of the dinosaur groups that lived on this landmass. A strong latitudinal climatic gradient existed on the landmass in the final 15 million years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemism
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coahuilaceratops
''Coahuilaceratops'' (meaning "Coahuila horn face") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur. It is a chasmosaurine ceratopsian which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (late Campanian stage) in what is now southern Coahuila in northern Mexico. It is known from the holotype CPC 276, a partial skeleton of an adult individual which includes several skull elements. Another specimen, CPS 277, may represent a juvenile ''Coahuilaceratops''. All specimens of ''Coahuilaceratops'' were collected from a single location in the middle strata of the Cerro del Pueblo Formation, which dates to between 72.5 and 71.4 million years ago.Loewen, M.A., Sampson, S.D., Lund, E.K., Farke, A.A., Aguillón-Martínez, M.C., de Leon, C.A., Rodríguez-de la Rosa, R.A., Getty, M.A., Eberth, D.A., 2010, "Horned Dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Cerro del Pueblo Formation, Coahuila, Mexico", In: Michael J. Ryan, Brenda J. Chinnery-Allgeier, and Davi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bravoceratops
''Bravoceratops'' is a genus of large chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that lived approximately 70 million years ago, and is known from the Late Cretaceous Javelina Formation in what is now Texas, United States. Discovery and naming ''Bravoceratops'' is only known from the holotype specimen Texas Memorial Museum, TMM 46015-1; it is housed in the collection of the Texas Memorial Museum, Austin, Texas. The skull consists of a number of fragments, altogether including: the , parts of each brow horn, the rear end of the left , assorted parts of the nasal area and horn, the , and quadratojugals from each side, a section of the and , multiple parts of the dentary, and some of the right . It was recovered from the lowermost rocks of the Javelina Formation, in Big Bend National Park; ceratopsid fossils are uncommon in this formation, giving the discovery of ''Bravoceratops'' importance in clarifying the groups' diversity. The specimen was found in sandy conglomerate sediment at the Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sister Species
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and taxon B are sister groups to each other. Taxa A and B, together with any other extant or extinct descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), form a monophyletic group, the clade AB. Clade AB and taxon C are also sister groups. Taxa A, B, and C, together with all other descendants of their MRCA form the clade ABC. The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree which offers yet more sister group relationships, both among the leaves and among larger, more deeply rooted clades. The tree structure shown connects through its root to the rest of the universal tree of life. In cladistic standards, taxa A, B, and C may represent specimens, species, genera, or any other taxonomic units. If A and B are at the same taxonomic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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