Liaoceratops

Liaoceratops
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 126 Ma
Restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Neornithischia
Clade: Ceratopsia
Clade: Neoceratopsia
Genus: Liaoceratops
Xu et al., 2002
Type species
Liaoceratops yanzigouensis
Xu et al., 2002

Liaoceratops, meaning "Liaoning horned face", is a ceratopsian dinosaur believed to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids. It lived in the Early Cretaceous, 126 million years ago.[1] It was discovered in China by a team of American and Chinese scientists. Liaoceratops was much smaller than its later relatives, but offers a glimpse into the early evolution of this group of dinosaurs.

Artist's reconstruction of ceratopsian dinosaur Liaoceratops yanzigouensis
Artist's reconstruction
Skull diagram of ceratopsian dinosaur Liaoceratops yanzigouensis
Diagram of skull
  1. ^ Chang, S.-C.; Gao, K.-Q.; Zhou, Z.-F.; Jourdan, F. (2017). "New chronostratigraphic constraints on the Yixian Formation with implications for the Jehol Biota". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 487: 399–406. Bibcode:2017PPP...487..399C. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.09.026.