Bagaceratops

Bah-gah-seh-rah-tops.
Published on

Harper Gray

Paleoartist

Harper Grey combines artistic talent with scientific precision to bring extinct creatures and environments back to life. Collaborating closely with paleontologists

Cite Feedback Print

Name

Bagaceratops ‭(‬Small horned face‭)‬.

Phonetic

Bah-gah-seh-rah-tops.

Named By

Teresa Maryanska and Halszka Osm�lska‭ ‬-‭ ‬1975.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Cerapoda,‭ ‬Ceratopsia,‭ ‬Bagaceratopidae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

B.‭ ‬rozhdestvenskyi‭

Size

About‭ ‬1‭ ‬meter long.

Known locations

Mongolia.

Time Period

Campanian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Cranial remains of at least twenty five individuals or varying degrees of completeness.‭ ‬Skulls of juveniles at various growth stages are also known.‭ ‬Post cranial remains far rarer.

In Depth

       A relative of the world famous Protoceratops,‭ ‬Bagaceratops is unusual in that it is more primitive,‭ ‬yet appeared later.‭ ‬Bagaceratops seems to have been like other small ceratopsids of its kind,‭ ‬though most of the post cranial skeleton is still unknown.‭ ‬Bagaceratops would have cropped plants with its beak while also keeping an eye open for the approach of potential predators such as tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs.

       There has been past speculation that the genus Magnirostris may actually be based upon specimens of Bagaceratops.

Further Reading

– Protoceratopsidae (Dinosauria) of Asia. – Palaeontologica Polonica 33:133-181. – T. Maryanska & H. Osm�lska – 1975.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT