Aquilops
Aquilops is a small early Ceratopsian dinosaur from Montana, U.S.A.. It is from the Lower Cretaceous, about 109 to 104 million years ago (mya). This is 20 million years before the previous earliest known North American dinosaur of its type.[1]
| Aquilops Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
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| Skull seen from the sides, above, and below | |
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| Genus: | †Aquilops Farke et al., 2014
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A. americanus Farke et al., 2014 (type) | |
The skull, which is the only part found, is smaller than a man's hand.[2]
Aquilops Media
Holotype locality (blue arrow) within Cloverly Formation outcrops (orange)
Aquilops exhibit next to Pentaceratops skeleton at the Sam Noble Museum
Size comparison with co-describer Andrew Farke for scale
Hypothetical life restoration of the head
Co-describer Matt Wedel with reconstructed Aquilops skeleton at DinoCon
Holotype skull held by Farke for scale
Map of North America during the mid Albian, around the time Aquilops lived. The Bighorn Basin where its fossils are known is marked in white.
An outcrop of the Cloverly Formation, with the Himes Member at the top in red sandstone.
Restoration of Cloverly formation environment with the mammal Gobiconodon pursuing juvenile Aquilops while adults attempt to protect them
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References
- ↑ Farke, Andrew A. 2014. A ceratopsian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Western North America, and the biogeography of Neoceratopsia. PLOS One doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112055 [1]
- ↑ BBC Earth. New horned dinosaur found in the US