| Description | Protoceratops (from Greek proto-/πρωτο- "first", cerat-/κερατ- "horn" and -ops/-ωψ "face", meaning "first horned face") is a genus of sheep-sized (1.8 m long) herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur, from the Upper Cretaceous Period (Campanian stage) of what is now Mongolia. It was a member of the Protoceratopsidae, a group of early horned dinosaurs. Unlike later ceratopsians, however, it was a much smaller creature that lacked well-developed horns and retained some basal traits not seen in later genera.
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| Source Data | |
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| Rank | genus |
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| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Dinosauria : Protoceratopsidae : Protoceratops |
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| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Ornithischia : Protoceratopsidae : Protoceratops |
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| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
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Classification
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| Scientific Name | Protoceratops Granger & Gregory, 1923 |
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| Name Published In | Amer. Mus. Novit., No. 72 |
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| Opinions (PBDB) | | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
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| Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Granger and Gregory, 1923 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated with evidence | Lull, 1924 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Gregory and Mook, 1925 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Huene, 1927 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Leptoceratopsinae | stated with evidence | Nopcsa, 1928 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Lull, 1933 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Chakravarti, 1934 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Bohlin, 1953 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | implied | Romer, 1956 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Ponderopoda | stated without evidence | Huene, 1958 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Huene, 1959 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Tatarinov, 1964 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Kuhn, 1964 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | implied | Romer, 1966 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Swinton, 1970 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Maryanska and Osmólska, 1975 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Rozhdestvensky, 1977 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Coronosauria | stated with evidence | Sereno, 1986 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Ostrom and Wellnhofer, 1986 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Dodson and Currie, 1990 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Dong, 1992 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Sereno, 1998 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Chinnery and Weishampel, 1998 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Sereno, 2000 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Makovicky, 2001 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Neoceratopsia | stated without evidence | You and Dodson, 2004 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Chinnery, 2004 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Neoceratopsia | stated without evidence | Chinnery and Horner, 2007 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopidae | stated without evidence | Alifanov, 2008 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Neoceratopsia | stated with evidence | Lee et al., 2010 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Longrich et al., 2010 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Neoceratopsia | stated without evidence | Farke, 2011 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Fastovsky et al., 2011 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsoidea | stated with evidence | Farke et al., 2014 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Coronosauria | stated with evidence | Zheng et al., 2015 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Coronosauria | stated without evidence | Morschhauser et al., 2019 | | Protoceratops | genus | belongs to Protoceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Kim et al., 2019 |
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| Status (PBDB) | extinct |
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| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 3 |
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| First Recorded Appearance | 145 - 101 Ma
Early/Lower Cretaceous |
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| Last Recorded Appearance | 83.5 - 66.0 Ma
Late/Upper Cretaceous |
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| Environment | terrestrial (based on Ceratopsia) |
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| Motility | actively mobile (based on Ornithischia) |
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| Diet | herbivore (based on Ceratopsia) |
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| Reproduction | oviparous, dispersal=direct/internal,mobile (based on Ornithischia) |
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| Ontogeny | accretion,modification of parts (based on Ornithischia) |
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| Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite,compact or dense (based on Ornithischia) |
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| Primary Reference (PBDB) | W. Granger and W. K. Gregory. 1923. Protoceratops andrewsi, a pre-ceratopsian dinosaur from Mongolia, with an appendix on the structural relationships of the Protoceratops beds. American Museum Novitates 72:1-9 |
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| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoceratops |
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| Granger W., Gregory W. K. (1923) Protoceratops andrewsi, a pre-ceratopsian dinosaur from Mongolia, with an appendix on the structural relationships of the Protoceratops beds, American Museum Novitates 72, 1-9 |
| Huene F. v. (1927) Contribución a la paleogeografía de Sud América [Contribution to the paleogeography of South America], Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de la República Argentina 30, 231-294 |
| Nopcsa B. F. (1928) The genera of reptiles, Palaeobiologica 1, 163-188 |
| Lull R. S. (1933) A revision of the Ceratopsia or horned dinosaurs, Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 3 3, 1-175 |
| Chakravarti D. K. (1934) On a stegosaurian humerus from the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore, Quarterly Journal of the Geological, Mining, and Metallurgical Society of India 6 3, 75-79 |
| Huene F. v. (1950) Bemerkungen zu einem fremdartigen neuen Ceratopsiden [Remarks on an unusual new ceratopsid], Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1950, 347-351 |
| Sternberg C. M. (1951) Complete skeleton of Leptoceratops gracilis Brown from the Upper Edmonton Member on Red Deer River, Alberta, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 123, 225-255 |
| Bohlin B. (1953) VI. Vertebrate Palaeontology 6. Fossil reptiles from Mongolia and Kansu, Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-western Provinces of China under Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin. The Sino-Swedish Expedition Publication 37, 1-113 |
| Romer A. S. (1956) , Osteology of the Reptiles, University of Chicago Press, 1-772 |
| Tatarinov L. P. (1964) Nadotryad Dinosauria. Dinozavry [Superorder Dinosauria. Dinosaurs], Osnovy Paleontologii [Fundamentals of Paleontology] 12, 523-589 |
| Romer A. S. (1966) , Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd edition, 1-468 |
| Swinton W. E. (1970) , The Dinosaurs, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1-331 |
| Maryanska T., Osmólska H. (1975) Protoceratopsidae (Dinosauria) of Asia, Palaeontologica Polonica 33, 133-181 |
| Rozhdestvensky A. K. (1977) The study of dinosaurs in Asia, Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India 20, 102-119 |
| Bonaparte J. F. (1978) El Mesozoico de America de Sur y sus Tetrapodos [The Mesozoic of South America and its tetrapods], Opera Lilloana 26, 1-596 |
| McIntosh J. S. (1981) Annotated catalogue of the dinosaurs (Reptilia, Archosauria) in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18, 1-67 |
| Russell D. A. (1984) A check list of the families and genera of North American dinosaurs, Syllogeus 53, 1-35 |
| Ostrom J. H., Wellnhofer P. (1986) The Munich specimen of Triceratops with a revision of the genus, Zitteliana 14, 111-158 |
| Sereno P. C. (1986) Phylogeny of the bird-hipped dinosaurs (order Ornithischia), National Geographic Research 2 2, 234-256 |
| Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698 |
| Dodson P., Currie P. J. (1990) Neoceratopsia, The Dinosauria. University of California Press, Berkeley, 593-618 |
| Dong Z. (1992) Dinosaurian Faunas of China, China Ocean Press, Beijing, 1-188 |
| Kurzanov S. M. (1992) A gigantic protoceratopsid from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, Paleontological Journal 26 3, 103-116 |
| Lehman T. M. (1996) A horned dinosaur from the El Picacho Formation of West Texas, and review of ceratopsian dinosaurs from the American Southwest, Journal of Paleontology 70 3, 494-508 |
| Chinnery B. J., Weishampel D. B. (1998) Montanoceratops cerorhynchus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) and relationships among basal neoceratopsians, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18 3, 569-585 |
| Sereno P. C. (1998) A rationale for phylogenetic definitions, with application to the higher-level taxonomy of Dinosauria, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 210 1, 41-83 |
| Sereno P. C. (2000) The fossil record, systematics and evolution of pachycephalosaurs and ceratopsians from Asia, The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia, 480-516 |
| Lambert O., Godefroit P., et al (2001) A new species of Protoceratops (Dinosauria, Neoceratopsia) from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P. R. China), Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Science de la Terre 71 supplement, 5-28 |
| Makovicky P. J. (2001) A Montanoceratops cerorhynchus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) braincase from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 243-262 |
| Tereschenko V. S., Alifanov V. R. (2003) Bainoceratops efremovi, a new protoceratopid dinosaur (Protoceratopidae, Neoceratopsia) from the Bain-Dzak locality (south Mongolia), Paleontological Journal 37 3, 293-302 |
| You H.-L., Dodson P. (2003) Redescription of neoceratopsian dinosaur Archaeoceratops and early evolution of Neoceratopsia, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48 2, 261-272 |
| Chinnery B. J. (2004) Description of Prenoceratops pieganensis gen. et sp. nov. (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24 3, 572-590 |
| Chinnery B. J., Horner J. R. (2007) A new neoceratopsian dinosaur linking North American and Asian taxa, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 3, 625-641 |
| Alifanov V. R. (2008) The tiny horned dinosaur Gobiceratops minutus gen. et sp. nov. (Bagaceratopidae, Neoceratopsia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia, Paleontological Journal 42 6, 621-633 doi:10.1134/S0031030108060087 |
| Godefroit P., Currie P. J., et al (2008) A new species of Velociraptor (Dinosauria: Dromaeosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of northern China, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28 2, 432-438 |
| Lee Y.-N., Ryan M. J., et al (2010) The first ceratopsian dinosaur from South Korea, Naturwissenschaften doi:10.1007/s00114-010-0739-y |
| Longrich N. R., Currie P. J., et al (2010) A new oviraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, Palaeontology 53 5, 945-960 doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00968.x |
| Fastovsky D. E., Weishampel D. B., et al (2011) A nest of Protoceratops andrewsi (Dinosauria, Ornithischia), Journal of Paleontology 85 6, 1035-1041 doi:10.1666/11-008.1 |
| Handa N., Watabe M., et al (2012) New specimens of Protoceratops (Dinosauria: Neoceratopsia) from the Upper Cretaceous in Udyn Sayr, southern Gobi area, Mongolia, Paleontological Research 16 3, 179-198 doi:10.2517/1342-8144-16.3.179 |
| Farke A. A., Maxwell W. D., et al (2014) A ceratopsian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of western North America, and the biogeography of Neoceratopsia, PLoS ONE 9 12, e11205:15-18 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112055 |
| Zheng W., Jin X., et al (2015) A psittacosaurid-like basal neoceratopsian from the Upper Cretaceous of central China and its implications for basal ceratopsian evolution, Scientific Reports 5, 14190:1-9 doi:10.1038/srep14190 |
| Kim B., Yun H., et al (2019) [The postcranial skeleton of Bagaceratops (Ornithischia: Neoceratopsia) from the Baruungoyot Formation (Upper Cretaceous) in Hermiin Tsav of southwestern Gobi, Mongolia], Journal of the Geological Society of Korea 55 2, 179-190 doi:10.14770/jgsk.2019.55.2.179 |
| Amer. Mus. Novit., No. 72 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
Protoceratops ✝
