Ceratosaurus
Ceratosaurus was a genus of middle sized primitive predatory dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic period, 161.2 million to 145 million years ago in the Oxfordian (stage).
| Ceratosaurus Temporal range: Upper Jurassic 161.2–145 mya
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| Genus: | †Ceratosaurus Marsh, 1884
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It was first described by O.C. Marsh in 1884. It had a horn on its nose, and a pair of small horns above its eyes. Unusually, for a theropod, Ceratosaurus had armour: small osteoderms ran down the middle of its back.
The animal had deep jaws and long blade-like teeth. A nearly complete skeleton was discovered in Garden Park, Colorado, in rocks belonging to the Morrison Formation.Other examples or close relatives have since been found.Ceratosaurus was a middle sized carnivorous dinosaur found in the Jurassic period. Ceratosaurus was known for the large horns on the top of its head.Ceratosaurus was in the same time as the allosaurus,stegosaurus and many more.Ceratosaurus was ranged from 9.2 meters long to 11.6 meters long.
This made it a fast and dependable predator. Ceratosaurus had 4 fingers mostly used for grasping\clutching objects. Ceratosaurus teeth were around 1.7-2.1 inches tall. Scientists have found bite marks of Ceratosaurus in many dinosaurs including, Allosaurus,Stegosaurus, possibly Dryosaurus, and many more.
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Ceratosaurus Media
C. nasicornis skeleton restoration by Othniel Charles Marsh from 1896, depicted in an erroneous upright position and with excess vertebrae in the spine resulting in an overly elongated trunk
Reconstruction of the holotype specimen of C. nasicornis by Charles W. Gilmore, 1920, showing known elements
Size of two specimens compared to a human, with the holotype of Ceratosaurus nasicornis (USNM 4735) in orange and a larger specimen (UMNH VP 5278) in blue
Diagram of the Ceratosaurus nasicornis holotype skull in top and side view by Charles Gilmore, 1920: This reconstruction is now thought to be too wide in top view.
Cast of the skull of the C. nasicornis holotype, showing the large nasal horn, American Museum of Natural History
Artist's impression of C. nasicornis
Distinguishing skull features of Ceratosaurus: The fused left and right nasal bones form a prominent nasal horn (top), and the teeth of the upper jaw are exceptionally long (bottom). These fossils are part of specimen MWC 1 from Fruita, Colorado, and are on display at the local Dinosaur Journey Museum.
C. nasicornis holotype, as mounted by Charles Gilmore in 1910 and 1911, National Museum of Natural History
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