Dino card No. 0043 of 2,027

Agujaceratops

Say it: a-GOO-ha-SER-ah-tops

Name means: “horned face from Aguja”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Agujaceratops was a big, four-legged plant eater with a huge frill and long horns on its face. It lived in what is now Texas and Mexico, about 77 million years ago. It looked a bit like a Triceratops, but with a longer frill and different horns.1 3

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fossils have been found in Texas, USA, and Chihuahua, Mexico, in the Aguja Formation.1 2

Food

Plants1 3

Length

4.3 m1

Weight

1.5 tonnes1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 2.5 bicycles in a rowas long as 24 bananas end to endas heavy as 50 big dogsas heavy as 300 watermelons

How big was Agujaceratops compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Agujaceratops had a heart-shaped frill with a deep notch at the back, and the edges were covered with small, blunt hornlets that made it look scalloped.1

Its brow horns pointed up and out, then curved backwards, which is different from many other horned dinosaurs.1

There are two known species: Agujaceratops mariscalensis and Agujaceratops mavericus. The second one has longer brow horns and a longer frill.1

Many Agujaceratops fossils have been found together in one quarry, which might mean they lived in herds or were gathered by a flood.1

It lived alongside the feathered dinosaur Leptorhynchos and the small pachycephalosaur Texacephale, and was hunted by tyrannosaurs and the giant crocodilian Deinosuchus.1

The first fossils were found in 1938 in Big Bend National Park, Texas, but they were not studied until many years later.1

AI-made picture of Agujaceratops — An AI-made picture of how Agujaceratops might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Agujaceratops

?How big was Agujaceratops?

Agujaceratops was about 4.3 metres (14 feet) long and weighed around 1.5 metric tons (1.7 short tons). That is roughly the size of a small car.1

?What did Agujaceratops eat?

It was a four-legged plant eater, like other ceratopsids. It probably ate low-growing plants with its beak and teeth.1 3

?When did Agujaceratops live?

It lived about 77 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils are found in Texas and Mexico.1 3

?Why did Agujaceratops have a frill?

The frill and horns were probably used for showing off to other members of its species, and maybe for fighting over territory or mates.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Agujaceratops is the same as Chasmosaurus.

Truth: It was first named Chasmosaurus mariscalensis, but scientists later decided it was different enough to be its own genus, Agujaceratops.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Agujaceratops
Named by: Lucas et al. 20063
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsidae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia > Ceratopsidae3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
Rock formations: Aguja3
Countries: USA, Mexico3
Fossil records: 16 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The first fossils were collected in 1938 from Big Bend National Park, Texas. In 1989, Lehman named them Chasmosaurus mariscalensis, and in 2006 Lucas, Sullivan, and Hunt gave them the new name Agujaceratops.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if the many Agujaceratops fossils found together represent a herd or just animals that died together in a drought or flood.1

Where the facts come from

Agujaceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Agujaceratops in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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