Dino card No. 1290 of 2,027

Notoceratops

Say it: NO-toe-SER-ah-tops

Name means: “southern horned face”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Notoceratops was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina, near the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It is known from just a single piece of jawbone, so scientists are not totally sure what it looked like. Some think it was a horned dinosaur, while others think it might have been a duck-billed dinosaur instead.1 4

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Argentina, in the Lago Colhué Huapi area of Chubut Province, from rocks of the Lago Colhué Huapi Formation.1 2

Food

Plants4 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Notoceratops is known from only one incomplete, toothless lower jawbone, and that bone has been lost, so scientists can only study drawings and descriptions.1

The name means 'southern horned face', because it was found in the Southern Hemisphere and was first thought to be a horned dinosaur.1

It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous.2

Some scientists think Notoceratops might actually be a hadrosaur, a duck-billed dinosaur, instead of a horned dinosaur.1

The discovery of another possible horned dinosaur in Australia, called Serendipaceratops, made some scientists think again about Notoceratops being a horned dinosaur.1

A 2014 study looked at the published information about Notoceratops and said the jawbone did have features like a horned dinosaur.1

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

?What did Notoceratops eat?

Notoceratops was a plant-eater, or herbivore. Its diet is inferred from its classification as an ornithischian dinosaur, which were all herbivores.1 4

?When did Notoceratops live?

Notoceratops lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian age.1 4

?How big was Notoceratops?

Nobody knows for sure. Only a single toothless jawbone has been found, and it has been lost, so scientists cannot estimate its size.1 3

?Is Notoceratops a dinosaur?

Scientists are uncertain. While originally classified as a ceratopsian dinosaur, the only known fossil was lost, and some researchers now suggest it may have been a hadrosaur or even a non-dinosaurian reptile.1 4

Ask Rex about Notoceratops

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Notoceratops was definitely a horned dinosaur like Triceratops.

Truth: Scientists are not sure. The only fossil is lost, and some experts think it might have been a duck-billed dinosaur instead.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Notoceratops
Named by: Tapia 19194
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsia4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Lago Colhué Huapi4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Augusto Tapia found the jawbone in 1918 near Lago Colhué Huapi in Argentina and named it Notoceratops bonarellii. The fossil was later described by Friedrich von Huene in 1929, but it has since been lost.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Notoceratops was a horned dinosaur or a duck-billed dinosaur, because the only fossil is lost and was incomplete.1

Where the facts come from

Notoceratops (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
NOTOCERATOPS - DinoChecker dinosaur archive (dinochecker.com)
Notoceratops 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex