Family
Valid Extinct

Bagaceratopsidae

Alifanov 2003

Protoceratopsidae is a family of basal (primitive) ceratopsians from the Late Cretaceous period. Although ceratopsians have been found all over the world, protoceratopsids are only definitively known from Cretaceous strata in Asia, with most specimens found in China and Mongolia. As ceratopsians, protoceratopsids were herbivorous, with constantly replacing tooth batteries made for slicing through plants and a hooked beak for grabbing them. Protoceratopsids were small ceratopsians around 1–2.5 m in length. Their bony frill and horns were much smaller than more derived members of Ceratopsia, such as ceratopsids.

Temporal range
PBDB occurrences
0
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling Terrestrial
Bagaceratopsidae
click to enlarge
Collage of two protoceratopsids. Bagaceratops (top) and Protoceratops (bottom). These files are already on Commons with their respective licenses. This montage was made for the article Protoceratopsidae on Wikipedia. File:Bagaceratops specimen MPC-D 100 551B.png File:Protoceratops specimen MPC-D 100 519.jpg © Łukasz Czepiński Jordi Payà · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Ornithischia Unranked clade
Neornithischia Unranked clade
Pyrodontia Unranked clade
Cerapoda Unranked clade
Marginocephalia Unranked clade
Ceratopsia Suborder
Neoceratopsia Infraorder
Coronosauria Unranked clade
Bagaceratopsidae Family
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
V. R. Alifanov. 2003. Two new dinosaurs of the infraorder Neoceratopsia (Ornithischia) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Nemegt Depression, Mongolian People's Republic. Paleontological Journal 37(5):524-534