Moreover, it lies on the floor with its feet directed to the prey's belly and throat areas, indicating that this Velociraptor was not scavenging. Protoceratops was a herbivore, living in the late Cretaceous of China and Mongolia. Behind the eye was a slightly smaller fenestra known as the infratemporal fenestra, formed by the curves of the jugal and squamosal. Something like 108 individual dinosaur specimens were collected by the American Museum of Natural History field teams between 1922 and 1925, all but seven of them represented Protoceratops andrewsi. The specific name, andrewsi, is in honor of Andrews for his prominent leadership during the expeditions. Most individuals are preserved with their forelimbs splayed and hindlimbs are extended, an arrangement that suggests that young Protoceratops tried to push against the powerful airstream in the initially loose sand. The first known remains of P. hellenikorhinus were collected from the Bayan Mandahu locality of the Bayan Mandahu Formation, Inner Mongolia, in 1995 and 1996 during Sino-Belgian paleontological expeditions. Even though their respective skull anatomy had substantial differences, their postcranial skeleton was virtually the same. [5][19], The lower jaw of Protoceratops was a large element composed of the predentary, dentary, coronoid, angular and surangular. Diet: herbivorous Teeth: shearing and grinding teeth with a horny beak at the front Food: plant material How it moved: on 4 legs When it lived: The hindlimbs of Protoceratops were rather long, with a slighter longer tibia (lower leg bone) than femur (thigh bone). The results suggests a mean embryonic tooth replacement period of 30.68 days and relatively plesiomorphically (ancestral-shared) long incubation times for P. andrewsi, with a minimum incubation time of 83.16 days. Protoceratops Pronunciation: pro-toe-ker-ah-tops Name meaning: 'first horned face' Type of dinosaur: ceratopsian Length: 1.8m Weight: 400kg. [72], Tereschhenko in 2013 examined the structure of the caudal vertebrae spines of Protoceratops, concluding that it had adaptations for terrestrial and aquatic habits. The team stated that feeding by Velociraptor upon Protoceratops was probably a relatively common occurrence in these environments, and that this ceratopsian actively formed part of the diet of Velociraptor. Because Protoceratops is considered to have been a herding animal, another hypothesis is that members of a herd tried to pull out the already buried Protoceratops, causing the joint dislocation of limbs. [59], In 2009 Kyo Tanque and team suggested that basal ceratopsians, such as protoceratopsids, were most likely low browsers due to their relatively small body size. The sclerotic ring (structure that supports the eyeball), found inside the orbit, was circular in shape and formed by consecutive bony plates. The two last dorsal ribs were the smallest, and the last of them was in contact with the internal surfaes of the ilium. The formation is known for its vertebrate fossils in life-like poses, most of which are preserved in unstructured sandstone, indicating a catastrophic rapid burial. The examined fossil bones indicated that Protoceratops slowed its ontogeny (growth) around 910 years of life, and it ceased around 1113 years. Fastovsky pointed out these two factors combined indicate that this site was host to high biotic activity, mainly composed of arthropod scavengers who were also involved in the recycling of Protoceratops carcasses. On its inner surface it was attached to the articular. Lastly, he restored the course of the fight with the Protoceratops power-slamming the Velociraptor, which used its feet claws to damage the throat and belly regions and its hand claws to grasp the herbivore's head. 3. ; Utkarsh Ambudkar as Orson: A humanoid supremacist Protoceratops with a bulging brain who wants to take control of the Lost World. Story. It lived in the Cretaceous period and inhabited Asia. The missing limbs of the Protoceratops were afterwards taken by scavengers. [5][19], Protoceratops had leaf-shaped dentary and maxillary teeth that bore several denticles (serrations) on their respective edges. [63], Kim with team in 2019 cited the elongated tail spines as well-suited for swimming. Since Protoceratops fossils are only found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia and this specimen was likely discovered during the Central Asiatic Expeditions, the team concluded that this skull was probably acquired by the Delft University between 1940 and 1972 as part of a collection transfer. The first metatarsal and toe were the smallest, while the other elements were of similar shape and length. The surangular was near triangular in shape and in old individuals it was coossified together with the coronoid process. It is likely that Protoceratops raised its tail as a signal (display) or females could use this method during egg laying in order to expand and relax the cloaca. The scapulae (shoulder blades) were relatively large and rounded on their inner sides. The manus (hand) of Protoceratops had five digits (fingers). [95][96], Protoceratops is known from most localities of the Djadokhta Formation in Mongolia, which dates back to the Late Cretaceous about 71 million to 75 million years ago, being deposited during a rapid sequence of polarity Protoceratops is a special dinosaur because they had really large eyes. [56], In 1955 paleontologist Georg Haas examined the overall skull shape of Protoceratops and attempted to reconstruct its jaw musculature. Had a body mass of approximately 177 kg. However, he noted that there were enough differences between P. andrewsi and P. kozlowskii, and erected the new genus and combination Breviceratops kozlowskii. On the other hand, Hone and team argued that if neck frills were instead used for protective purposes, a large frill may have acted as an aposematic (warning) signal to predators. Both hand and feet unguals were flat, blunt and hoof-like. Most of the fossilized remains of these dinosaurs were found in Asia, particularly in Mongolia, in the Gobi Desert and other parts of central Asia. [2][5], After spending much of 1924 making plans for the next fieldwork seasons, in 1925 Andrews and team explored the Flaming Cliffs yet again. 1.4 (17 votes) Chialingosaurus kuani was a stegosaurian that lived 160 million years ago in China. This resulted in the interpretation of the contemporary Oviraptor as an egg predatory animal, an interpretation also reflected in its generic name. The epijugal (tip region of the jugal) was separated from the jugal by a prominent suture; this suture was more noticeable in adults. The team however, was not able to produce deeper analysis regarding sexual dimorphism in P. hellenikorhinus due to the lack of complete specimens. [97][99] The Bayn Dzak member (mostly the Bayn Dzak locality) has yielded the dromaeosaurids Halszkaraptor and Velociraptor mongoliensis;[101][102] oviraptorid Oviraptor;[3] ankylosaurid Pinacosaurus grangeri;[93] and troodontid Saurornithoides. Like its larger and geologically younger relative Triceratops, this herbivore also had a bony . In the Late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ceratopsians began to diversify in North America and in Asia. Like the neighbouring Bayn Dzak, this new locality contained an abundance of Protoceratops fossils. Protoceratops are dinosaurs confirmed to appear in Additional Creatures: Endemics. hellenikorhinus. [54], Tomasz Jerzykiewiczz in 1993 reported several monospecific (containing only one dominant species) death assemblages of Protoceratops from the Bayan Mandahu and Djadokhta formations. [124], In 1993 the Folklorist and historian of science Adrienne Mayor of Stanford University suggested that the exquisitely preserved fossil skeletons of Protoceratops, Psittacosaurus and other beaked dinosaurs, found by ancient Scythian nomads who mined gold in the Tian Shan and Altai Mountains of Central Asia, may have been at the root of the image of the mythical creature known as the griffin. The growing embryos therefore relied on external heat and parental care. This specimen was later described in 1940 by Brown and Schlaikjer, who discussed the nature of the matrix portion. The diameter of the feeding traces preserved on a Protoceratops skull from Bayn Dzak was bigger than traces reported among other specimens, indicating that the scavengers responsible for these traces were notoriously different from other trace makers preserved on specimens. 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[76] A large and well-developed bony ridge on the parietal has been observed on another P. andrewsi specimen, MPC-D 100/551, also from Udyn Sayr. Each egg was elongated and hard-shelled, and due to the proximity and high abundance of Protoceratops in the formation, these eggs were believed at the time to belong to this dinosaur. [8], The specimen shortly became notorious and was nicknamed the Fighting Dinosaurs. On the other hand P. hellenikorhinus had a total skull length of about 70cm (700mm). To accommodate this equipment, the skull of Protoceratops was almost comically large compared to the rest of its body, giving it a distinctly "top . Stumper. Protoceratops var ett fyrfotat djur, ganska lik de mer vlknda ceratopsiderna, ssom Triceratops, Centrosaurus och Styracosaurus, men var mycket mindre; den mtte knappt 1,8 - 2 meter frn nos till svansspets, och hade ungefr samma kroppsstorlek som en tam gris eller ett fr. Their neural spines were smaller than the first three vertebrae and the development of the capitular facet diminished from the fourth cervical onwards. Eye size is an important adaptation in predators and nocturnal animals because a larger eye ratio poses a higher sensitivity and resolution. Most notably, the team discovered the first fossilized dinosaur eggs near the holotype of Oviraptor and given how abundant Protoceratops was, the nest was attributed to this taxon. The pubis was the smallest element of the pelvic girdle and it had an irregular shape, although its lower end was developed into a pointed bony projection downwards. Forms without the enormous horns and frills of Triceratops, in the family Protoceratopsidae, include the Mongolian genus Protoceratops and the unusual bipedal, frill-less dinosaur Psittacosaurus ("parrot-lizard"). They had a short but powerful tail and walked on four thick legs weighing up to 11,000 kg (24,250 pounds) and could reach up to 9m (30 feet) in length and 3m (10 feet) in height. It shared it's habitat with other dinosaurs like Therizinosaurus and Velociraptor. Weighing up to 100 poundsabout the size of a wolf Velociraptors likely hunted solo as they roamed across central and eastern Asia in the late Cretaceous . What kind of habitat did Protoceratops live in? P. andrewsi had a pair of cylindrical, blunt teeth near the tip of the upper jaw. All teeth had a single root (lower part inserted in the alveoli). Their neural spines were broad, not coosified, and rather consistent in length. The habitat seems to have been quite dry . The frill was likely used for display or intraspecific combat, as well as protection of the neck and anchoring of jaw muscles. At least two individuals within this block are preserved with their arms at a level above the legs, suggestive of attempts of trying to move upwards with the purpose of free themselves. The coronoid (highest point of the lower jaw) was blunt-shaped and touched by the coronoid process of the dentary, being obscured by the jugal. The neck frill specifically, underwent a dramatic change from a small, flat, and almost rounded structure in juveniles to a large, fan-like one in fully mature Protoceratops individuals. Two other groups were found at the Tugriken Shireh locality; one group containing six individuals and another group of about 12 skeletons. Kosmoceratops is a dinosaur that was discovered in Utah in the United States. During the death struggle a large dune may have collapsed simultaneously burying both Protoceratops and Velociraptor. [50], Furthermore, with the re-examinations of Turanoceratops in 2009 and Zuniceratopstwo critical ceratopsian taxa regarding the evolutionary history of ceratopsidsin 2010 it was concluded that the origin of ceratopsids is unrelated to, and older than the fossil record of Protoceratops and relatives. What was a Protoceratops's habitat? changes in the late part of the Campanian stage. Karen. Protoceratops (/protosrtps/; lit. It was first discovered in Mongoliain the Gobi Desertby Roy Chapman in 1922. The sampled elements consisted of neck frill, femur, tibia, fibula, ribs, humerus and radius bones, and showed that the histology of Protoceratops remained rather uniform throughout ontogeny. The second point was explained on the basis of the already derived anatomy in protoceratopsids like Bagaceratops or Protoceratops (such as the jaw morphology). Another proposal is that the Velociraptor was scavenging an already dead Protoceratops when it got buried and eventually killed by indeterminate circumstances. The average weight of the dinosaur was 400kg (900 pounds) 4. They also considered possible that populations of Velociraptor were aware of crouching behaviors in Protoceratops during high-energy sandstorms and used it for successful hunts. [65], In 1996 Tereshchenko reconstructed the walking model of Protoceratops where he considered the most likely scenario to be Protoceratops as an obligate quadruped given the proportions of its limbs. However, Barsbold pointed out that there no related traces within the overall specimen in order to support this latter interpretation. The tail was long and had an enigmatic sail-like structure, which may have been used for display, swimming, or metabolic reasons. He also considered it unlikely that these Protoceratops individuals died after burying themselves in the sand given that these specimens are only found in structureless sandstones; an arched posture would pose hard breathing conditions; and burrowers are known to excavate headfirst and sub horizontally. [3] In the same year, Granger and William K. Gregory formally described the new genus and species Protoceratops andrewsi based on the holotype skull. Judging off diet, speculated fat placement and habitat protoceratops would most . Among scenarios, an anagenetic transition was best supported by Czepiski given the fact that no definitive B. rozhdestvenskyi fossils are found in Udyn Sayr, as expected from a hybridization event; MPC-D 100/551B lacks a well-developed accessory antorbital fenestra (hole behind the nostril openings), a trait expected to be present if B. rozhdestvenskyi had migrated to the area; and many specimens of P. andrewsi recovered at Udyn Sayr already feature a decrease in the presence of primitive premaxillary teeth, hence supporting a growing change in the populations.