Dino card No. 0049 of 2,027

Ajkaceratops

Say it: oi-ka-SER-a-tops

Name means: “horned face from Ajka”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Ajkaceratops was a small horned dinosaur that lived on ancient islands in what is now Europe. It had a beak like a parrot and probably ate tough plants. Scientists think it may have hopped from island to island to reach Europe from Asia.1 2

Lived

86 to 84 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Csehbánya Formation, Iharkút, Hungary1 2

Food

Plants1

Length

1 m1

estimated

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to end

How big was Ajkaceratops compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Ajkaceratops is the first ceratopsian dinosaur ever found in Europe that scientists are sure about.2

Its fossils were discovered in a former floodplain and channel deposit, made of clay, silt, and sandstone.1

The name Ajkaceratops honors the town of Ajka in Hungary, where the fossils were found.1

Ajkaceratops may have lacked the frill and horns that other ceratopsians had.1

Its ancestors probably reached Europe by island-hopping across the Tethys Ocean.2

A 2026 study using a more complete skull confirmed that Ajkaceratops is a true ceratopsian.1

AI-made picture of Ajkaceratops — An AI-made picture of how Ajkaceratops 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 Ajkaceratops

?How big was Ajkaceratops?

About 1 metre (3.3 feet) long, roughly the size of a large dog.1

?Did Ajkaceratops have horns?

Probably not. It may have lacked the frill and horns seen in other ceratopsians.1

?What did Ajkaceratops eat?

It ate tough plants. Its tooth wear shows it chewed tougher vegetation than some other dinosaurs living nearby.1

?When did Ajkaceratops live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 86 to 84 million years ago.1

?Where was Ajkaceratops found?

Its fossils were found in Hungary, near the town of Ajka, in rocks that were once a floodplain.1

?Is Ajkaceratops a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a small horned dinosaur called a ceratopsian.1

Ask Rex about Ajkaceratops

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Ajkaceratops
Named by: Osi et al. 20103
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsia3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia3
Age of the rocks: 86 to 84 million years (Santonian)3
Rock formations: Csehbánya3
Countries: Hungary3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Ajkaceratops was named by Attila Ősi and colleagues in 2010, based on skull fragments found near Ajka, Hungary. The species name kozmai honors Károly Kozma.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Ajkaceratops had a true rostral bone, which is a key feature of ceratopsians.1

Where the facts come from

Ajkaceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
A Late Cretaceous ceratopsian dinosaur from Europe with Asian affinities | Nature (nature.com)
Ajkaceratops 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex