Dino card No. 1164 of 2,027

Menefeeceratops

Say it: men-EF-ee-SER-ah-tops

Name means: “Menefee Formation horned face”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Menefeeceratops was a horned dinosaur that lived in what is now New Mexico, USA. It is one of the oldest known members of the ceratopsid family, which includes famous dinosaurs like Triceratops. This plant-eater walked on four legs and had a bony frill on its head.1

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Sandoval County, New Mexico, USA1

Food

Plants3

Length

4 to 4.5 m1

estimated based on related dinosaurs

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 25 bananas end to end

How big was Menefeeceratops compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Menefeeceratops is potentially the oldest known ceratopsid dinosaur, living about 83 to 80 million years ago.1

Its fossils were discovered in 1996 by Paul Sealey, a research associate at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.1

The only known skeleton is partial and not connected, including parts of the skull, jaw, vertebrae, ribs, hip bone, and limb pieces.1

Menefeeceratops lived alongside other dinosaurs like the tyrannosaur Dynamoterror and the hadrosaur Ornatops.1

It shared its environment with giant crocodile-like reptiles such as Deinosuchus and Brachychampsa.1

The name Menefeeceratops honors the Menefee Formation where it was found, and the species name sealeyi honors its discoverer Paul Sealey.1

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

?How big was Menefeeceratops?

Menefeeceratops was about 4 to 4.5 metres long, based on comparisons with related horned dinosaurs.1 2

?When did Menefeeceratops live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 83 to 80 million years ago (early Campanian age).1 3

?What did Menefeeceratops eat?

It was a plant-eater (herbivore), as shown by its beak and teeth adapted for chewing plants.3

?Was Menefeeceratops related to Triceratops?

Yes, it was a ceratopsid, the same family as Triceratops, but it was smaller and lived earlier.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Menefeeceratops
Named by: Dalman et al. 20213
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsidae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia > Ceratopsidae3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
Rock formations: Menefee3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Paul Sealey discovered the fossils in 1996 in New Mexico. The dinosaur was named Menefeeceratops sealeyi in 2021 by Sebastian Dalman, Peter Dodson, and colleagues.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Menefeeceratops is truly the oldest ceratopsid, because the age of the rocks is still debated.1

Where the facts come from

Menefeeceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
Releases | New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs (newmexicoculture.org)
Menefeeceratops 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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