Kosmoceratops
Name:
Kosmoceratops
(ornament horned face).
Phonetic: Kos-mo-seh-rah-tops.
Named By: S. D. Sampson, M. A. Loewen,
A. A. Farke, E. M. Roberts, C. A. Forster, J. A.
Smith & A. L. Titus - 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ceratopsidae, Chasmosaurinae.
Species: K. richardsoni
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About 4.5 meters long.
Known locations: USA, Utah - Kaiparowits
Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull and
mandible (jaw), as well as partial post cranial skeletal remains
including vertebrae, ribs, hip and a partial rear leg.
Named
in 2010, Kosmoceratops has quickly become a
dinosaur fan
favourite, thanks largely to the highly ornate form of the skull,
which was also the inspiration for the genus name. To start, the
frill section of the skull is twice as wide as it is long, which by
physical proportions, means that it is among the shortest known
frills for a chasmosaurine ceratopsian
dinosaur. At the top of the
frill there are ten small horns, the central eight of which curve
down and towards the braincase, while the two horns on the end
project to the sides. The nasal horn is low and laterally compressed
so that it forms more of a blade like structure, and in the holotype
is noted as having a blunt tip. Perhaps most interesting though are
the brow horns that grow from above the eye sockets. Usually,
ceratopsians that have brow horns are noted as curving either forwards
or backwards, but in Kosmoceratops the horns
actually project out to
the sides, and Kosmoceratops is a rare example of
this. Altogether
this is yet further evidence that the horns and frills of ceratopsian
dinosaurs were more for species recognition and display rather than
defence.
The
reason for the highly ornate form of Kosmoceratops
seems to have been a
result from living in a restricted habitat. Not long after the
chasmosaurine ceratopsians appeared in Laramidia, they seem to have
become isolated in northern and southern populations due to geological
barriers in central Laramidia. It was not until these barriers
disappeared later in the Cretaceous that northern and southern
populations mixed. Before this time, limited gene pools within the
restricted populations would have allowed for a greater chance of
elaborate skull designs than that typically seen in larger populations
that usually ‘water down’ the appearance of unique physical
characteristics.
Kosmoceratops
is known to have shared it’s habitat with another chasmosaurine
ceratopsian named Utahceratops,
while a slightly more distantly
related centrosaurine ceratopsian called Nasutoceratops
is also
present. Hadrosaurs
such as Parasaurolophus
and Gryposaurus
are also
present, while the main predatory threats to Kosmoceratops
would
include tyrannosaurs
such as Teratophoneus
and when younger troodonts
such as Talos.
Further reading
- New horned dinosaurs from Utah provide evidence for
intracontinental dinosaur endemism. - PLoS One 5(9):e12292
. - S. D. Sampson, M. A. Loewen, A. A. Farke,
E. M. Roberts, C. A. Forster, J. A. Smith &
A. L. Titus - 2010.
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |
 |