Wikipedia
Protoceratops
Description
Protoceratops was a quadrupedal dinosaur that was partially characterized by its distinctive neck frill at the back of its skull. The frill itself contained two large parietal fenestrae (holes in the frill), while its cheeks had large jugal bones. The exact size and shape of the neck frill varied by individual; some specimens had short, compact frills, while others had frills nearly half the length of the skull. The frill consists mostly of the parietal bone and partially of the squamosal. Some researchers, including Peter Dodson attribute the different sizes and shapes of these bones to sexual dimorphism, as well as the age of the specimen, at the time of death.
More Information
Fact file
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Clade: Dinosauria
- Order: †Ornithischia
- Family: †Protoceratopsidae
- Genus: †Protoceratops
- Granger & Gregory, 1923