Bagaceratops

Bagaceratops was a small herbivorous ceratopsian that roamed the arid dunes of Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous epoch. At roughly one metre long and weighing about the same as a medium-sized dog, it was a modest dweller of ancient desert environments. Known from dozens of well-preserved skulls and partial skeletons, its anatomy is exceptionally well understood across multiple growth stages. It featured a compact, parrot-like beak, a modest bony neck frill, and a subtle conical bump over its snout. While early studies allied it closely with Protoceratops, palaeontologists now place it within its own distinctive family of small neoceratopsians adapted for shearing tough desert foliage.

It possessed a small nasal horn-like prominence and lacked brow horns entirely.

Where and when

Bagaceratops lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 75 to 71 million years ago (Campanian age). Its remains come from Mongolia, in the Barun Goyot Formation.

The numbers

Length 1.2 m (estimates run from 1 to 1.4 m). Mass about 21 kg. Hip height about 0.4 m. That is 0.7 human-lengths, or 0.11 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Bagaceratops with a bus Place on the timeline