Dino card No. 0679 of 2,027

Furcatoceratops

Say it: fur-KAT-oh-SORE-ops

Name means: “forked horned face”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Furcatoceratops was a horned dinosaur that lived in what is now Montana, USA, about 75 million years ago. It had a big frill on its head and two forward-curving horns above its eyes. This plant-eater was about the size of a small car.1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fergus County, Montana, USA1

Food

Plants4

Length

4 to 5 m2

estimated from subadult skeleton

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 28 bananas end to end

How big was Furcatoceratops compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Furcatoceratops was named in 2023, making it one of the newest horned dinosaurs discovered.1

Its horns pointed forward and curved slightly inward, like a fork, which is how it got its name.1 2

The only known skeleton is of a subadult, meaning it was not fully grown when it died.2

Furcatoceratops lived alongside other dinosaurs like the horned Avaceratops, the duck-billed Brachylophosaurus, and the tyrannosaur Daspletosaurus.1

Its fossils were found in the Judith River Formation, which was once a warm, coastal plain.1 2

Scientists think Furcatoceratops is closely related to Nasutoceratops, another horned dinosaur with a big nose.1 4

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

?How big was Furcatoceratops?

Furcatoceratops was about 3.6 metres (12 feet) long, about the size of a small car. It was a moderately-sized subadult, so it may have grown a bit larger.3 1

?What did Furcatoceratops eat?

Furcatoceratops was a plant-eater. It lived in a warm, coastal plain and ate plants.1

?When did Furcatoceratops live?

Furcatoceratops lived about 75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in rocks about 75.6 million years old.1 2

?Was Furcatoceratops a dinosaur?

Yes, Furcatoceratops was a dinosaur. It was a type of horned dinosaur called a ceratopsian, specifically a centrosaurine.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Furcatoceratops
Named by: Ishikawa et al. 20234
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsidae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia > Ceratopsidae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Judith River4
Countries: USA4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Furcatoceratops was named by Hiroki Ishikawa and colleagues in 2023 based on a nearly complete skeleton found at a quarry in Montana, USA. The skeleton was dug up by Triebold Paleontology Incorporated and is now kept at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Japan.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big a fully grown Furcatoceratops was, because the only known fossil is from a subadult.2

Where the facts come from

Furcatoceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
Furcatoceratops elucidans , a new centrosaurine (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) from the upper Campanian Judith River Formation, Montana, USA (sciencedirect.com)
Furcatoceratops elucidans — skeletal reconstruction · NSM PV 24660 | Skeletal Drawing (skeletaldrawing.com)
Furcatoceratops in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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