Bagaceratops

Bah-gah-seh-rah-tops.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Bagaceratops ‭(‬Small horned face‭)‬.

Phonetic

Bah-gah-seh-rah-tops.

Named By

Teresa Maryanska and Halszka Osm�lska‭ ‬-‭ ‬1975.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Cerapoda,‭ ‬Ceratopsia,‭ ‬Bagaceratopidae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

B.‭ ‬rozhdestvenskyi‭

Size

About‭ ‬1‭ ‬meter long.

Known locations

Mongolia.

Time Period

Campanian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Cranial remains of at least twenty five individuals or varying degrees of completeness.‭ ‬Skulls of juveniles at various growth stages are also known.‭ ‬Post cranial remains far rarer.

In Depth

       A relative of the world famous Protoceratops,‭ ‬Bagaceratops is unusual in that it is more primitive,‭ ‬yet appeared later.‭ ‬Bagaceratops seems to have been like other small ceratopsids of its kind,‭ ‬though most of the post cranial skeleton is still unknown.‭ ‬Bagaceratops would have cropped plants with its beak while also keeping an eye open for the approach of potential predators such as tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs.

       There has been past speculation that the genus Magnirostris may actually be based upon specimens of Bagaceratops.

Further Reading

– Protoceratopsidae (Dinosauria) of Asia. – Palaeontologica Polonica 33:133-181. – T. Maryanska & H. Osm�lska – 1975.

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