Avaceratops
Triceratops lammersi
Pronounced:
Ayv - ah - Sair - o - tops
Diet:
Herbivore (Plant-Eater)
Name Means:
"Ava's horn face"
Length:
13.5 feet (4 m)
Height:
4 feet (1.3 m)
Weight:
700 pounds tons (318 kilos)
Time:
Late Cretaceous - 77 mya
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found
in Western United States
Avaceratops looks
like a small version of
the famous
Triceratops
Like many dinosaur
discoveries, not much of
it was found. In fact,
scientists only found
part of its skull and a
little of the skeleton
behind its head.
This small ceratopsian is known
from a single partial skeleton. It
was small but had a moderately heavy
build. Avaceratops had a short, deep
snout with a thick and powerful
lower jaw. The neck frill was solid.
It is believed that this ceratopsian
did not have very large brow horns.
Most of its closest relatives had a
large nose horn and no brow horns.
Some feel that the type specimen is
a juvenile, or possibly a young
adult. It is considered a primitive
ceratopsian.
It was found in 1981 by two
amateur paleontologists, Ed and Ava
Cole and it was named after Ava. It
is an example of the important
contributions that non-scientists
can make to paleontology. This
skeleton is now on display at the
Academy of Natural Sciences in
Philadelphia.
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