Agujaceratops

Bilateria

Agujaceratops Temporal range: Late Campanian, 75-73.5 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skeletal restoration
Scientific classification
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Suborder:	†Ceratopsia
Family:	†Ceratopsidae
Subfamily:	†Chasmosaurinae
Genus:	†Agujaceratops Lucas, Sullivan & Hunt 2006
Species:	†A. mariscalensis
Binomial name
Agujaceratops mariscalensis (Lehman, 1989 [originally Chasmosaurus])

Agujaceratops (meaning "Horned face from Aguja") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur. It is a chasmosaurine ceratopsian which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (late Campanian stage) in what is now Texas. Originally known as Chasmosaurus mariscalensis and described by Lehman in 1989, it was moved to a new genus by Lucas, Sullivan and Hunt in 2006. Lehman felt the habitat Agujaceratops lived in (at least where the fossil material was found) may have been a swamp, due to the nature of the sediments.

Discovery and species

Restoration

In 1938, three dinosaur bone beds were excavated, and ceratopsian material was collected from Big Bend National Park by William Strain. This material was studied by Lehman in 1989 and named Chasmosaurus mariscalensis. It is known only from the holotype UTEP P.37.7.086 a partial adult skull which includes a braincase, left supraorbital horncore, left maxilla and a right dentary. Additional material was associated with the holotype, but not considered to be part of it. All specimens of Agujaceratops were collected from the upper part of the Aguja Formation, dating to 75-73.5 million years ago, in the Big Bend National Park, Brewster County. Subsequent analysis resulted in the taxon being put in its own genus. Agujaceratops was named by Spencer G. Lucas, Robert M. Sullivan and Adrian Hunt in 2006 and the type species is Agujaceratops mariscalensis. Agujaceratops is similar to both Pentaceratops and Chasmosaurus. Its short frill suggests it probably wasn't an ancestor of Pentaceratops.

References

• Dodson, P. (1996). The Horned Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. ISBN 0-691-05900-4. 
• Spencer G. Lucas, Robert M. Sullivan and Adrian Hunt (2006). "Re-evaluation of Pentaceratops and Chasmosaurus (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) in the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35: 367–370. http://www.dinochecker.com/papers/Re-evaluation_of_%20Pentaceratops_and_Chasmosaurus_Lucas_et_al_2006.pdf. 

External links

Dinosaurs portal

• DinoGeorge's List of Dinosaurs, including Agujaceratops
• Brief mention of Agujaceratops on the DML and here as well
• Texas archosaurs, including Chasmosaurus (now Agujaceratops)