Platyceratops
Encyclopedia
Platyceratops is a dinosaur
from the Late Cretaceous
, during the Campanian Age
, about 75-72 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Mongolia
. Its skull is larger than Bagaceratops
; it has been referred to Bagaceratopidae or the Neoceratopsia. The name platyceratops is derived from Greek, and means "flat horned face".
The type specimen is Platyceratops tatarinovi, described by Aliafanov in 2003.
for "horned face"), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot
-like beaks which thrived in North America
and Asia
during the Cretaceous Period, which ended roughly 65 million years ago. All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era.
It may be only a variant of Bagaceratops.
. 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.
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...
from 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...
, during the Campanian Age
Campanian
The Campanian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch . The Campanian spans the time from 83.5 ± 0.7 Ma to 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma ...
, about 75-72 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in 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...
. Its skull is larger than Bagaceratops
Bagaceratops
Bagaceratops, meaning "small-horned face" , is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia around 80 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous...
; it has been referred to Bagaceratopidae or the Neoceratopsia. The name platyceratops is derived from Greek, and means "flat horned face".
The type specimen is Platyceratops tatarinovi, described by Aliafanov in 2003.
Classification
Platyceratops belonged to the Ceratopsia (the name is GreekAncient 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...
for "horned face"), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot
Parrot
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. All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era.
It may be only a variant of Bagaceratops.
Diet
Platyceratops, 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.