Centrosaurinae

Centrosaurines Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 82–69 Ma[1][2] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Centrosaurus "nasicornus" skeleton, Palaeontological Museum Munich
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	†Ornithischia
Clade:	†Neornithischia
Clade:	†Ceratopsia
Family:	†Ceratopsidae
Subfamily:	†Centrosaurinae Lambe, 1915
Type species
†Centrosaurus apertus Lambe, 1904
Subgroups
†Brachyceratops? †Diabloceratops †Machairoceratops †Menefeeceratops †Sinoceratops †Wendiceratops †Xenoceratops †Monoclonius †Albertaceratopsini Loewen et al., 2024 †Albertaceratops †Lokiceratops †Medusaceratops †Nasutoceratopsini Ryan et al., 2017 †Avaceratops †Crittendenceratops †Furcatoceratops †Nasutoceratops †Yehuecauhceratops? †Eucentrosaura Chiba et al., 2018 †Centrosaurini Ryan et al., 2017 †Centrosaurus †Coronosaurus †Spinops †Styracosaurus? †Pachyrhinosaurini Sternberg, 1950 †Einiosaurus †Stellasaurus †Styracosaurus? †Pachyrostra Fiorillo & Tykoski, 2012 †Achelousaurus †Pachyrhinosaurus
Synonyms
Pachyrhinosaurinae Sternberg, 1950 Monocloniinae Nopcsa, 1923

Centrosaurinae (from the Greek, meaning "pointed lizards") is a subfamily of ceratopsid, a group of large quadrupedal ornithischian dinosaur. Centrosaurine fossil remains are known primarily from the northern region of Laramidia (modern day Alberta, Montana, and Alaska) but isolated taxa have been found in China and Utah as well.^[3]

Defining features of centrosaurines include a large nasal horn, short supratemporal horns, and an ornamented frill projecting from the back of the skull.^[4] With the exception of Centrosaurus apertus, all adult centrosaurines have spike-like ornaments midway up the skull.^[5] Morphometric analysis shows that centrosaurines differ from other ceratopsian groups in skull, snout, and frill shapes.^[6] There is evidence to suggest that male centrosaurines had an extended period of adolescence, and sexual ornamentation did not appear until adulthood.^[4]

Centrosaurinae was named by paleontologist Lawrence Lambe in 1915, with Centrosaurus as the type genus. It is defined in the PhyloCode as "the largest clade containing Centrosaurus apertus, but not Chasmosaurus belli and Triceratops horridus.^[7] The centrosaurines are further divided into three tribes: the Nasutoceratopsini, the Centrosaurini, and the Pachyrhinosaurini by Ryan et al (2016).^[8] Nasutoceratopsini is defined as "the largest clade containing Nasutoceratops titusi, but not Centrosaurus apertus. The remaining two tribes belong to the clade Eucentrosaura, defined as "the smallest clade containing Centrosaurus apertus and Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis".^[7]. Centrosaurini is defined as "the largest clade containing Centrosaurus apertus, but not Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis" while Pachyrhinosaurini has the opposite definition consisting of "the largest clade containing Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis, but not Centrosaurus apertus".^[7] Most recently, Mark Loewen and colleagues in 2024 named the tribe Albertaceratopsini in their description of the new species Lokiceratops rangiformis. It is defined as "all taxa more closely related to Albertaceratops nesmoi than to Centrosaurus apertus".^[9]