Dino card No. 0198 of 2,027

Auroraceratops

Say it: aw-ROH-ruh-SER-uh-tops

Name means: “dawn horned face”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosEarly Cretaceous

Auroraceratops was a small, early horned dinosaur that walked on two legs. It lived in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous period, about 113 to 110 million years ago. This dinosaur had a short, wide skull and a beak for nibbling plants.1 3

Lived

113 to 110 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Gansu Province, China (Gongpoquan Basin and Yujingzi Basin)1 3

Food

Plants3 1

Length

1.25 m1

Weight

15.5 kg1

Height

0.44 m1

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 4 house cats

as long as 2.5 house cats nose to tailas long as 7 bananas end to endas heavy as 130 bananas

How big was Auroraceratops compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Auroraceratops had a short, wide snout, unlike many other early horned dinosaurs that had long, narrow snouts.1

Its name honors Dawn Dodson, the wife of paleontologist Peter Dodson, as well as meaning 'dawn horned face'.1

Over 80 skeletons of Auroraceratops have been found, many curled up as if they died in burrows.1

This dinosaur had rough, bumpy areas on its skull and jaws that were probably covered in horny material (keratin) in life.1

Auroraceratops lived in a seasonally dry environment alongside other dinosaurs like the tyrannosauroid Xiongguanlong and the ornithomimosaur Beishanlong.1

It was about the size of a large dog, only 1.25 meters (4.1 feet) long and weighing about 15.5 kilograms (34 pounds).1

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

?How big was Auroraceratops?

About 1.25 metres (4.1 feet) long, 44 centimetres (17 inches) tall at the hip, and weighed around 15.5 kilograms (34 pounds). That is about the size of a medium dog.1 2

?Did Auroraceratops have feathers?

No source says Auroraceratops had feathers. It had rough, bumpy areas on its skull and jaws that were probably covered in horny material called keratin, but no feathers are mentioned.1

?What did Auroraceratops eat?

It ate plants. It had a beak for nibbling plants and fang-like teeth in the front of its mouth.1

?Was Auroraceratops a dinosaur?

Yes, Auroraceratops was a dinosaur. It was a small, early horned dinosaur that walked on two legs.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Auroraceratops
Named by: You et al. 20053
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Neoceratopsia3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia3
Age of the rocks: 113 to 110 million years (Albian)3
Rock formations: Zhonggou3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Auroraceratops was named in 2005 by You Hailu and colleagues based on a nearly complete skull found in the Gongpoquan Basin of Gansu Province, China.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether differences in skull shape among Auroraceratops specimens are due to individual variation, sexual differences, or how the fossils were preserved.1

Where the facts come from

Auroraceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
Small horned dinosaur from China, a Triceratops relative, walked on two feet (vet.upenn.edu)
Auroraceratops 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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