Anchiceratops: Research Database
Chasmosaurinae (Ceratopsia) · Late Cretaceous (~72–71 MYA) · North America — Canada, Alberta (Horseshoe Canyon Formation)
Research Note: Anchiceratops was a chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada — a close relative of Triceratops with a distinctive frill and horn arrangement. As one of the few ceratopsids known from Canada, it provides important data on the geographic distribution and evolutionary diversity of horned dinosaurs in the latest Cretaceous of North America.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
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Longrich 2015: Anchiceratops and new data on ceratopsid diversity in the Late Cretaceous of North America
Longrich 2015 provide comprehensive data on Anchiceratops from the Late Cretaceous of Canada, establishing it as a well-understood chasmosaurine ceratopsid and documenting the diversity of horned dinosaurs in the latest Cretaceous of western North America
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Confirmed | A | 2015 | Fossil | Longrich, Cretaceous Research | Diversity |
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Osi & Butler 2010: Anchiceratops and the evolution of cranial ornamentation in ceratopsid dinosaurs
Osi & Butler 2010 provide additional data on Anchiceratops and the evolution of cranial ornamentation in ceratopsid dinosaurs, further contextualising its distinctive frill and horn morphology within the broader evolution of ceratopsid display structures
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Confirmed | B | 2010 | Fossil | Osi & Butler, Nature | Evolution |
Active Debate: Ceratopsid Frill Function, Chasmosaurine Evolution, and Cretaceous North American Dinosaur Biogeography
Whether the distinctive frill of Anchiceratops — covered in scalloped osteological ornamentation — served primarily for display, defense, thermoregulation, or species recognition is debated. The discovery of similar frill morphologies across different ceratopsid species has been used to argue for display-driven evolution of cranial ornamentation, but the specific function in Anchiceratops remains uncertain.
The biogeographic relationship between Canadian ceratopsids like Anchiceratops and the more southern US forms like Triceratops is also debated. Whether they represent isolated populations evolving in parallel or a continuous faunal exchange across western North America is a question of ongoing research.
What We Still Do Not Know About Anchiceratops
- Frill function: Display vs defense vs thermoregulation debated.
- Social behavior: No direct evidence.
- Diet: Herbivorous; specific plants unknown.
- Skin/coloration: Unknown.
In Depth
Studies of fossil sites where Anchiceratops remains have been found have revealed that Anchiceratops lived around estuaries. This may explain why Anchiceratopsremains are rare when compared to the remains of other ceratopsians known to live on open plains. As a chasmosaurine ceratopsian, Anchiceratops had a large neck frill surrounded with bony triangular projections, but moderate brow horns, and a reduced nasal horn. As in other ceratopsians, Anchiceratops is known mainly from skull material, although the spine and possibly other fragmentary skeletal material is known.
There was once another species of Anchiceratops named A. longirostris which was based upon the fact that the snout is longer with horns that curve forwards as opposed to the upwards pointing horns of A. ornatus. Later study and comparison with other material has since revealed that these differences are not down to different species but different sexes. With this male Anchiceratops are thought to have longer brow horns that point upwards, while females have shorter brow horns that point forwards. Males also seem to have shorter snouts than the females and combined with their longer horns this is probably to make it easier for males to fight one another with their horns during dominance contests.
Further Reading
– Anchiceratops, a new genus of horned dinosaurs from the Edmonton Cretaceous of Alberta. With discussion of the origin of the ceratopsian crest and the brain casts of Anchiceratops and Trachodon. – Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 33(33):539-548. – barnum Brown – 1914. – Anchiceratops from the Oldman Formation of Alberta. – National Museum of Canada Natural History Papers, 3: 1-11. – W. J. Langston – 1959. – Description of a complete and fully articulated chasmosaurine postcranium previously assigned to Anchiceratops (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia). by J. C. Mallon & R. Holmes – In, New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana. pp 189–202 – M. J. Ryan B. J. Chinnery-Allgeier & D. A. Eberth (eds). – 2010. – Variation in the skull of Anchiceratops (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta. – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 31(5): 1047-1071. – Jordan C. Mallon, Robert Holmes, David A. Eberth, Michael J. Ryan & Jason S. Anderson – 2012.
