Anchiceratops
Anchiceratops ornatus
Pronounced:
AN - key - SERRA -
tops
Diet:
Herbivore (plant
eater)
Name
Means:
"Close Horn Face"
Length:
20 feet (6 m)
Height:
8 feet (2.6 m)
Weight:
2 tons (1,800 kilos)
Time:
Late Cretaceous - 80
MYA
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in
Alberta, Canada
Anchiceratops is a
lesser-known member of
the family of dinosaurs
that includes
Triceratops .
It was very similar in
looks to its more famous
cousin, except that its
frill was not solid and
it was squarer shaped.
Anchiceratops also had
shorter horns and was a
little smaller than
Triceratops
Barnum Brown of the
American Museum of
Natural History first
discovered Anchiceratops
along the Red River in
Alberta, Canada in 1912.
This original specimen
consisted of only the
back part of the skull,
but since that time a
number of specimens have
been found, including a
nearly complete skeleton
now at the National
Museum of Canada.
Anchiceratops' body was
very much like other
ceratopsians except that
it had a very short
tail. Its most
distinctive feature was
its strange neck frill -
moderately long and
rectangular with small
oval openings. On the
back of the frill there
were six large bony
knobs that expanded into
short, triangular,
backward pointing
spikes. Anchiceratops
also had two short
spikes that curve up and
outward. It had a short
nasal horn, a very long
nose, and two
moderate-sized brow
horns. It was probably a
fairly common dinosaur
in its time, as a number
of fossils have been
found. |
