Tatankaceratops

Ta-tank-ah-seh-rah-tops.
Published on

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

Tatankaceratops ‭ (‬Bison horn face‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ta-tank-ah-seh-rah-tops.

Named By

Christopher J.‭ ‬Ott‭ & ‬Peter L.‭ ‬Larson‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ceratopsia,‭ ‬Ceratopsidae,‭ ‬Chasmosaurinae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

T.‭ ‬sacrisonorum‭

Size

Uncertain due to lack of remains.

Known locations

USA,‭ ‬South Dakota‭ ‬-‭ ‬Hell Creek Formation.

Time Period

Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Single partial skull.

In Depth

       The Tatankaceratops type specimen was pieced together from partial remains before it was named in‭ ‬2010,‭ ‬and soon after there were murmurings that it was actually a juvenile Triceratops.‭ ‬This stems down to a‭ ‬2011‭ ‬study by Nicholas R.‭ ‬Longrich which noted a mix of juvenile and adult characteristics in the skull.‭ ‬Since this time other palaeontologists have expressed their suspicions about Tatankaceratops with the two main theories being that it is either a juvenile Triceratops‭ ‬or one that has a growth defect that stunted its development.

Further Reading

– A New, Small Ceratopsian Dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, Northwest South Dakota, United States: A Preliminary Description. – Christopher J. Ott & Peter L. Larson. – In, New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium, Bloomington, Indiana University Press – M. J. Ryan, B. J. Chinnery-Allgeier & D. A. Eberth – 2010. – Titanoceratops ouranos, a giant horned dinosaur from the Late Campanian of New Mexico. – Cretaceous Research. 32 (3): 264–276. – Nicholas R. Longrich – 2011. – Triceratops with a kink: Co-ossification of five distal caudal vertebrae from the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota. – Cretaceous Research, 108 (2020): 104355. – Matthew M. Canoy Illies & Denver W. Fowler – 2011.

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