''Ojoceratops'' ( meaning "Ojo Alamo horned face") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of ceratopsian

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

which lived in what is now

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. ''Ojoceratops'' fossils have been recovered from strata of the Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), dating to the late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

period (probably Maastrichtian age, 68 million years agoSullivan, R.M., and Lucas, S.G. 2006.
The Kirtlandian land-vertebrate "age" – faunal composition, temporal position and biostratigraphic correlation in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous of western North America
" New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 35:7-29.). The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

is ''Ojoceratops fowleri''. It is very similar to its close relative ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago in what is now North America. It is one ...

'', though it is from an earlier time period and has a more squared-off frill.Robert M. Sullivan and Spencer G. Lucas, 2010, "A New Chasmosaurine (Ceratopsidae, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico", In: Ryan, M.J., Chinnery-Allgeier, B.J., and Eberth, D.A. (eds.) ''New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium'', Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 656 pp. Nick Longrich, in 2011, noted that the squared-off frill is also found in some true ''Triceratops'' specimens and that ''Ojoceratops'' is probably a junior synonym of ''Triceratops'', while Holtz (2010) noted that it is probably ancestral to ''Triceratops'' and possibly synonymous with the contemporary ''

Eotriceratops ''Eotriceratops'' (meaning "dawn three-horned face") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaurs which lived in the area of North America during the late Cretaceous period. The only named species is ''Eotriceratops xerinsularis''. Discovery ...

''.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'
Winter 2010 Appendix.
/ref>

References

Chasmosaurines Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America Fossil taxa described in 2010 Maastrichtian life Paleontology in New Mexico Ojo Alamo Formation Maastrichtian genus first appearances Maastrichtian genus extinctions Ornithischian genera {{ceratopsian-stub

See also

References