Machairoceratops

Name: Machairoceratops ‭(‬bent sword horned face‭)‬.
Phonetic: Mak-air-o-seh-rah-tops.
Named By: E.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Lund,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬O'Connor,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Loewen‭ & ‬Z.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Jinnah‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ceratopsidae,‭ ‬Centrosaurinae.
Species: M.‭ ‬cronusi‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Holotype skull roughly reconstructed to have been about one meter long.‭ ‬Total body size uncertain.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Utah‭ ‬-‭ ‬Wahweap Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial and fragmentary remains of the posterior skull and horns.

       Machairoceratops is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous.‭ ‬At the time of the genus description in‭ ‬2016,‭ ‬Machairoceratops is only known from partial skull and horn remains.‭ ‬We can however ascertain a few facts about this dinosaur.‭ ‬One is that Machairoceratops was a centrosaurine ceratopsian,‭ ‬a type known to have favoured elaborate growths of horns as opposed to having a huge neck frill.‭ ‬Another is that Machairoceratops had two large horns growing up from the brow.‭ ‬Finally there were two more horns that grew from the top of the frill and then curved forwards.‭ ‬It is these two horns that were the inspiration for the name Machairoceratops which translates as‭ ‘‬bent sword horned face‭’‬.

Further reading
-‭ ‬A new centrosaurine ceratopsid,‭ ‬Machairoceratops cronusi gen et sp.‭ ‬nov.,‭ ‬from the Upper Sand Member of the Wahweap Formation‭ (‬Middle Campanian‭)‬,‭ ‬southern Utah.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PLoS ONE‭ ‬11‭(‬5‭) ‬-‭ ‬E.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Lund,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬O'Connor,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Loewen‭ & ‬Z.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Jinnah‭ ‬-‭ ‬2016.



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