In Depth
Named in reference to the more famous Triceratops, Eotriceratops was a large ceratopsian dinosaur of the late Cretaceous. At three meters long from the snout to the tip of the neck frill, the skull of Eotriceratops is also immense. The skull at the base of the left brow horn has bite marks which indicates that the left horn may once have been in the mouth of a predator like a tyrannosaur.
Eotriceratops is just one of many ceratopsian dinosaurs from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, with Anchiceratops, Arrhinoceratops and Pachyrhinosaurus also known. Other dinosaurs that Eotriceratops may have come into contact with include the armoured Edmontonia and Anodontosaurus, as well as the hadrosaurs Hypacrosaurus, Saurolophus and Edmontosaurus. Principal predatory threats to Eotriceratops probably came from large tyrannosaurs like Albertosaurus, though smaller predators like Atrociraptor and Richardoestesia may have been threats to hatchlings and smaller juveniles.
Further Reading
- A new ceratopsid dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the uppermost Horseshoe Canyon Formation (upper Maastrichtian), Alberta, Canada, Xiao-Chun Wu, Donald B. Brinkman, David A. Eberth & Dennis R. Braman - 2007.
