Cerasinops

Cerasinops was a compact, primitive ceratopsian discovered in the Campanian-aged Two Medicine Formation of Montana. Approximately two metres in length and about the weight of a boar, it provides valuable insight into North American leptoceratopsids. It is known from an exceptionally complete skeleton lacking only portions of the tail. With limb proportions suggesting both bipedal browsing and quadrupedal movement, Cerasinops was versatile and low-slung. It possessed a small skull with a short, thick neck frill and no facial horns. The genus represents an evolutionary split between North American and Asian horned dinosaur branches, illustrating how small ceratopsians thrived in the shadow of giant hadrosaurs and tyrannosaurs.

Its name honors landowner Wilson Hodgskiss, whose name means 'cherry' in Latin.

Where and when

Cerasinops lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 80 to 76 million years ago (Campanian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Two Medicine Formation.

The numbers

Length 2.1 m (estimates run from 1.8 to 2.3 m). Mass about 120 kg. Hip height about 0.7 m. That is 1.2 human-lengths, or 0.19 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from near-complete skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Cerasinops with a bus Place on the timeline