In Depth
Nasutoceratops was the second genus of centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur to be discovered in the south west of the USA, the first genus being Diabloceratops that was named three years earlier. Back in the Cretaceous the South-west of what is now the USA was the southern portion of Laramidia, an island landmass extending from Canada all the way to Mexico, and isolated from Appalachia (modern day eastern USA) by the western interior seaway. It is possible that the reason why centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaurs were not as common in southern Laramidia than they were in the North may well be because of geological barriers that prevented ceratopsian dinosaurs from spreading south. If correct then this would have resulted in isolated populations that may have begun evolving features differently because of a more limited gene pool.
Hailing from the Kaiparowits Formation, Nasutoceratops would have shared its habitat with chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaurs such as Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops, as well as hadrosaurs such as Gryposaurus and Parasaurolophus. Potential predators included theropods like the troodontid Talos but particularly tyrannosaurs such as Teratophoneus.
Further Reading
- A remarkable short-snouted horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian) of southern Laramidia. - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280:20131186. - S. D. Sampson, E. K. Lund, M. A. Loewen, A. A. Farke & K. E. Clayton - 2013.
