''Bainoceratops'' (meaning "mountain horned face", after the type locality, Bayn Dzak) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of ceratopsian

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

from the late Campanian in the Late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. The type species is ''B. efremovi''. Its fossils were found in southern

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

in the Djadochta Formation.

History

Viktor Tereshchenko and Vladimir R. Alifanov in 2003 named ''Bainoceratops efremovi'' based on a few dorsal (back) vertebrae that were stated to differ from those of '' Protoceratops'', suggesting a closer relationship with '' Udanoceratops''. In 2006

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n paleontologists Peter Makovicky and Mark A. Norell suggested that ''Bainoceratops'' may be synonymous with ''Protoceratops'' as most of the traits used to separate the former from the latter have been reported from other ceratopsians including ''Protoceratops'' itself, and they are more likely to fall within the wide intraspecific variation range of the concurring ''P. andrewsi''. In 2007, in their description of '' Cerasinops'', authors Brenda J. Chinnery and John R. Horner determined ''Bainoceratops'' and other dubious genera to be either a variant or immature specimen of other well-known genera. Based on this reasoning, they excluded ''Bainoceratops'' from their phylogenetic analysis.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q134387 Ceratopsia Dinosaur genera Campanian dinosaurs Djadochta Formation Fossil taxa described in 2003 Dinosaurs of Mongolia

History

See also

References