Bagaceratops
Encyclopedia
Bagaceratops, meaning "small-horned face" (Mongolian
Baga = "small"; Greek
ceratops = "horn face"), is a genus
of ceratopsian dinosaur
that lived in what is now Mongolia
around 80 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous
. Although emerging late in the reign of the dinosaurs, Bagaceratops had a fairly primitive anatomy and kept the small body size that characterized early ceratopsians.
Bagaceratops grew to an adult size of about 1 metres (3.3 ft) long, 50 centimetres (1.6 ft) high, and weighed around 22 kilograms (48.5 lb). It had a smaller frill (which lacked fenestrae), and only ten grinding teeth per jaw, and more triangular skull than its close relative, Protoceratops
.
Bagaceratops evolved later but retains more primitive characteristics than its earlier relative. Otherwise the two dinosaurs were very similar, each had a beak but no brow horns, and a small horn-like prominence on the snout.
, Poland
's Paleobiological Institute.
Bagaceratops is currently known from five complete and twenty partial crania, the longest of which is 17 cm long. The skulls are spread throughout the life cycle of the animal, with the smallest being only 4.7 cm long, so the growth cycle is relatively well understood. The smaller juvenile skulls were about the same size as a golf ball. Sadly, only fragmentary remains of Bagaceratops post-cranial anatomy have been found.
Juvenile remains, initially tentatively named Protoceratops kozlowskii, and then renamed Breviceratops
kozlowskii by Kurzanov in 1990 are now felt to be juvenile Bagaceratops. Sereno (2000) explained this by extrapolating that the juvenile Breviceratops
would grow into a mature Bagaceratops.
The type and only species, B. rozhdestvenskyi, was named in honor of the Russian paleontologist A. K. Rozhdestvensky.
-like beaks which thrived in North America
and Asia
during the Cretaceous Period, which ended roughly 65 million years ago.
. During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited on the landscape", and so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. It would have used its sharp ceratopsian beak to bite off the leaves or needles.
Mongolian language
The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
Baga = "small"; Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
ceratops = "horn face"), is a genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ceratopsian dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
that lived in what is now Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
around 80 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
. Although emerging late in the reign of the dinosaurs, Bagaceratops had a fairly primitive anatomy and kept the small body size that characterized early ceratopsians.
Description
Protoceratops
Protoceratops is a genus of sheep-sized herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur, from the Upper Cretaceous Period of what is now Mongolia. It was a member of the Protoceratopsidae, a group of early horned dinosaurs...
.
Bagaceratops evolved later but retains more primitive characteristics than its earlier relative. Otherwise the two dinosaurs were very similar, each had a beak but no brow horns, and a small horn-like prominence on the snout.
Discovery and Species
The first remains of Bagaceratops were discovered in the Gobi Desert during the 1970s by a joint expedition composed of Mongolian and Polish scientists. Several of these Bagaceratops specimens are currently housed in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's Paleobiological Institute.
Bagaceratops is currently known from five complete and twenty partial crania, the longest of which is 17 cm long. The skulls are spread throughout the life cycle of the animal, with the smallest being only 4.7 cm long, so the growth cycle is relatively well understood. The smaller juvenile skulls were about the same size as a golf ball. Sadly, only fragmentary remains of Bagaceratops post-cranial anatomy have been found.
Juvenile remains, initially tentatively named Protoceratops kozlowskii, and then renamed Breviceratops
Breviceratops
Breviceratops was a ceratopsian dinosaur from Late Cretaceous Mongolia. It was related to Protoceratops. The fossils originally described by Maryanska and Osmolska in 1975 and placed in Protoceratops, were moved to the new genus by Kurzanov in 1990.The type species is Breviceratops...
kozlowskii by Kurzanov in 1990 are now felt to be juvenile Bagaceratops. Sereno (2000) explained this by extrapolating that the juvenile Breviceratops
Breviceratops
Breviceratops was a ceratopsian dinosaur from Late Cretaceous Mongolia. It was related to Protoceratops. The fossils originally described by Maryanska and Osmolska in 1975 and placed in Protoceratops, were moved to the new genus by Kurzanov in 1990.The type species is Breviceratops...
would grow into a mature Bagaceratops.
The type and only species, B. rozhdestvenskyi, was named in honor of the Russian paleontologist A. K. Rozhdestvensky.
Classification
Bagaceratops belonged to the Ceratopsia, a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrotParrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
-like beaks which thrived in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
during the Cretaceous Period, which ended roughly 65 million years ago.
Diet
Bagaceratops, like all ceratopsians, was a herbivoreHerbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
. During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited on the landscape", and so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. It would have used its sharp ceratopsian beak to bite off the leaves or needles.