Helioceratops
Helioceratops Temporal range: Early-Late Cretaceous,
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Restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | †Ornithischia |
Clade: | †Ceratopsia |
Family: | †Archaeoceratopsidae |
Genus: | †Helioceratops Jin L. et al., 2009 |
Species: | †H. brachygnathus
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Binomial name | |
†Helioceratops brachygnathus Jin L. et al., 2009
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Helioceratops is a
Discovery and naming
In 2000 and 2002, at the Liufangzi site of China's eastern Jilin province, excavations took place during which the jaws were found of a ceratopsian new to science.[1]
The type species Helioceratops brachygnathus was named and described in 2009 by Jin Liyong, Chen Jun, Zan Shuqin and Pascal Godefroit. The generic name means "sun horned face" from the Greek helios, "sun", keras, "horn" and ops, "face". The reference is that the Sun rises in the East and ceratopsians also "rose" in the East; i.e. they originated in the Orient. The name also refers to a close relationship with Auroraceratops, the "dawn ceratopian". The specific name means "short jaw" from the Greek βραχύς, brachys and γνάθος, gnathos, in reference to the distinguishing short lower jaw.[2]
Helioceratops was discovered in a layer of the
Description
Helioceratops was a relatively small animal. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated a length of 1.3 m (4.3 ft) and a weight of twenty kilogrammes.[3]
The describing authors established three distinguishing traits. They are
The number of teeth in the upper jaws is unknown. The lower jaws bear ten to eleven teeth. Their front teeth are relatively small, with a triangular cross-section. The rear teeth are larger and ovate in section, a derived trait.[1]
Phylogeny
Helioceratops was placed in the Neoceratopsia, in a moderately basal position, outside of the
Paleoecology
Helioceratops was a herbivore. It may have shared its habitat with Changchunsaurus.[1]
See also
References
- ^ .
- ^ Atkinson, L. "HELIOCERATOPS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive". ‹http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/HELIOCERATOPS Web access: 01st Aug 2020
- ^ Paul, Gregory S. The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, 2010