Diabloceratops
Diabloceratops was a horned dinosaur that lived about 81 million years ago in what is now Utah, USA. It had a big frill, a nose horn, and two long spikes on its frill, making it look a bit like a devil. It was one of the oldest horned dinosaurs ever found, and it walked on four legs and ate plants.12
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Fun facts
Diabloceratops had a pair of very long spikes on its frill, similar to dinosaurs like Einiosaurus and Styracosaurus.1
Unlike most other centrosaurines, Diabloceratops had long horns above its eyes and a short nose horn, more like Triceratops.2
The only known specimen was discovered in 1998 and excavated in 2000 by a team including the Utah Geological Survey and the Natural History Museum of Utah.2
Diabloceratops lived in a wet, seasonal climate with lakes, floodplains, and east-flowing rivers, near the Western Interior Seaway.1
It shared its home with the duck-billed dinosaur Acristavus and the meat-eater Lythronax, which was likely the top predator.1
Most asked questions about Diabloceratops
?How big was Diabloceratops?
About 4.5 metres (15 ft) long and 1.3 metric tons (1.4 short tons) in weight. That is roughly as long as a small car.1
?What did Diabloceratops eat?
It ate plants. It had a beaked mouth for feeding on plants and was a herbivore.12
?Why is it called Diabloceratops?
Its name means 'devil-horned face' because it had a pair of long, curved spikes on its frill that look like devil horns.1
?Did Diabloceratops have feathers?
No one knows for sure. No fossils of feathers have been found with Diabloceratops, and most horned dinosaurs are not thought to have had feathers.1
?When did Diabloceratops live?
It lived about 81 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.1
?Was Diabloceratops bigger than T. rex?
No, it was much smaller. Diabloceratops was about 4.5 metres long, while T. rex could be over 12 metres long.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Diabloceratops was a meat-eater because of its devil-like name and spikes.
Truth: Actually, Diabloceratops was a plant-eater. Its beak and teeth were adapted for eating plants, not meat.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Diabloceratops
- Named by
- Kirkland and Deblieux 20103
- Group
- Horned dinos
- Family / clade
- Ceratopsidae3
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ceratopsia > Ceratopsidae3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Wahweap3
- Countries
- USA3
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- The first fossil, a partial skull, was found in 1998 by Joshua A. Smith, and the main specimen was collected in 2002 by Don DeBlieux. It was named Diabloceratops eatoni in 2010 by James Kirkland and Donald DeBlieux.1
- Still debated
- Scientists debate whether a second specimen, UMNH VP 16704, really belongs to Diabloceratops or to a different, more advanced centrosaurine.1
Where the facts come from
- Diabloceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
- Diabloceratops eatoni (nhmu.utah.edu)
- Diabloceratops in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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