Kosmoceratops
Kosmoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America about 76. 4–75. 5 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2006 and 2007. It would have been quadrupedal with a heavily constructed skeleton. With fifteen well-developed horns and horn-like structures, it possessed the most ornate skull of any known dinosaur species.
About Kosmoceratops in brief
Kosmoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America about 76. 4–75. 5 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2006 and 2007. It had an estimated length of 4. 5 m and a weight of 1. 2 t. It would have been quadrupedal with a heavily constructed skeleton. With fifteen well-developed horns and horn-like structures, it possessed the most ornate skull of any known dinosaur species. It was originally suggested to be closely related to Vagaceratops but this has been debated, some authors finding the latter closer to Chasmosaurus. Studies of bone histology show that Kosmocers grew rapidly and had an elevated metabolism, similar to modern birds and mammals. The teeth of cer atopsids were adapted to processing fibrous plants; coprolites that contain wood may have been produced by ceratipsids. Based in part on the relationship between Kosmopterus and other chasmosaurines from around the same time, it has been proposed that Laramidia was divided into dinosaur “provinces” with separate endemic zones. This has been contested, but this is the basis for a proposed division of the island continent into two zones, with North America at the center by the Western Interior Seaway and Utahceratops in the middle.
The specific name honors Scott Richardson, who found the specimens and named the new genus and species in 2010. The generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek kosmos, which meanshorned face, and which means “horned” or “cerated” The holotype includes a nearly complete skull of a nearly 17,000-year-old adult, which can be translated as “hornate horned face” and can be found at the National Museum of Natural History in New York City. In 2010, paleontologist Scott D. Sampson and colleagues also named the species KosmOCERatops richardsoni, with the holotype being the nearly complete adult skull and postcranial skeleton and partial subadults. The find was part of a spate of Ceratopsian discoveries in the early 21st century and was considered significant due to its elaborate skull ornamentation. It has been suggested that it may have had a triangular beak with a pointed tip and a blade-like nasal horn with a flattened upper portion. The neck frill was short from front to back, with small parietal fenestrae, and ten hook-like processes on the hind margin, with eight curving forwards and two curving to the sides. It is also considered related to Spiclypeus, which had a similar frill. The fossil was discovered by volunteer field crew member Scott Richardson during the field seasons of 2006 and2007.
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This page is based on the article Kosmoceratops published in Wikipedia (as of Oct. 31, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
