Genus
Valid Extinct

Protoceratops

Granger and Gregory 1923

Protoceratops is a genus of small protoceratopsid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous, around 75 to 71 million years ago. The genus Protoceratops includes two species: P. andrewsi and the larger P. hellenikorhinus. The former was described in 1923 with fossils from the Mongolian Djadokhta Formation, and the latter in 2001 with fossils from the Chinese Bayan Mandahu Formation. Protoceratops was initially believed to be an ancestor of ankylosaurians and larger ceratopsians, such as Triceratops and relatives, until the discoveries of other protoceratopsids. Populations of P. andrewsi may have evolved into Bagaceratops rozhdestvenskyi through anagenesis.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
38
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Protoceratops
click to enlarge
Protoceratops andrewsi skeleton at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. © Tadek Kurpaski from London, Poland · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia
Protoceratops
Protoceratops
Protoceratops
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Neornithischia Unranked clade
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Pyrodontia Unranked clade
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Cerapoda Unranked clade
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Marginocephalia Unranked clade
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Ceratopsia Suborder
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Neoceratopsia Infraorder
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Coronosauria Unranked clade
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Protoceratopsidae Family
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Protoceratops Genus
Measurements
Length
2,15 m ⓘ
Protoceratops andrewsi  — min connu
2,6 m ⓘ
Protoceratops hellenikorhinus  — max connu
1,8 m ⓘ
Mass
115 kg ⓘ
Protoceratops andrewsi  — min connu
195 kg ⓘ
Protoceratops hellenikorhinus  — max connu
Fossil sites 38 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇳 Mongolia
31
🇨🇳 China
7
Geological formations
Djadokhta
23
Bayan Mandahu
5
Baruungoyot
4
Miaogou
1
Alagteeg
1
Wulansuhai
1
Temporal distribution
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
37
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
1
Species (3)
Bainoceratops efremovi subjective synonym of Protoceratops andrewsi 86 Ma
Protoceratops andrewsi 86 Ma
Protoceratops hellenikorhinus 84 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Bainoceratops subjective synonym of Protoceratops
Images 7
Bibliography
Original description
W. Granger and W. K. Gregory. 1923. Protoceratops andrewsi, a pre-ceratopsian dinosaur from Mongolia, with an appendix on the structural relationships of the Protoceratops beds. American Museum Novitates 72:1-9
Bibliography (25)
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X. Chen, K. Tan, and L. Lu, S. Ji. 2022. Occurrence of Protoceratops hellenikorhinus (Ceratopsia: Protoceratopsidae) in Alxa region, western Inner Mongolia, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 96(11):3722-3732 DOI ↗
Ł. Czepiński. 2020. New protoceratopsid specimens improve the age correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Gobi Desert strata. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 65(3):481-497 DOI ↗
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