Dino card No. 0148 of 2,027

Archaeoceratops

Name means: “ancient horned face”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosEarly Cretaceous

Archaeoceratops was a tiny, early horned dinosaur that lived in China during the Early Cretaceous. It walked on two legs and had a small frill on its head, but no horns yet. This little plant-eater was only about as long as a bicycle!1

Lived

121 to 110 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Gansu Province, north central China1

Food

Plants1

Length

0.9 to 1.3 m1 2

estimates vary

Weight

10 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 house cats

as long as 2.5 house cats nose to tailas long as 7 bananas end to endas heavy as 83 bananas

How big was Archaeoceratops compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Archaeoceratops is one of the earliest known horned dinosaurs, or ceratopsians.1

It had a relatively large head but no horns, only a small bony frill at the back of its skull.1

The first fossils were found in the Xinminbao Group of Gansu Province, China.1

Two specimens have been discovered: a partial skeleton with skull and a smaller, less complete skeleton.1

Scientists think Archaeoceratops was bipedal, meaning it walked on its two hind legs.1

It lived about 121 to 99 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.2

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

?How big was Archaeoceratops?

About 90 centimetres (3 feet) long and weighed about 10 kilograms (22 pounds). It was about as long as a bicycle.1 3

?What did Archaeoceratops eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It probably ate ferns, cycads and conifers, using its sharp beak to bite off leaves.1

?Where was Archaeoceratops found?

Its fossils were discovered in the Gansu Province in north central China.1

?Why is it called Archaeoceratops?

Its name means 'ancient horned face' because it was an early horned dinosaur with a small frill on its head.1 3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Archaeoceratops
Named by: Dong and Azuma 19974
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Neoceratopsia4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia4
Age of the rocks: 121 to 110 million years (Aptian / Albian)4
Rock formations: Zhonggou, Xiagou4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Archaeoceratops was named by Chinese paleontologist Dong Zhiming and Japanese paleontologist Yoshitsugu Azuma in 1997. The type species is A. oshimai.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Archaeoceratops is related to other early ceratopsians, and some debate whether it belongs in its own family, Archaeoceratopsidae.1

Where the facts come from

Archaeoceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
Archaeoceratops | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
PaleoCodex :: Archaeoceratops (paleocodex.com)
Archaeoceratops 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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