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Medusaceratops, Late CretaceousJudith River Formation, Montana · named 2010
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Medusaceratops

"Medusa horned face"

Type species Medusaceratops lokii

Lived
84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
Diet
Herbivore
Group
Ceratopsians, Ceratopsidae
Found in
United States
Named by
Ryan et al. 2010

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

1 find

80 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

It lived on a coastal plain crossed by rivers in what is now Montana. Daspletosaurus, Gorgosaurus and Corythosaurus occur in the Judith River Formation.

Field notes

About Medusaceratops

What it was like

Medusaceratops was a horned dinosaur with large, curved hooks along the edge of its frill, which reminded its namers of the snake hair of a monster from Greek myth. It had long brow horns and was a close relative of Albertaceratops.

Its world

It lived in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Montana. It comes from the Judith River Formation, where it shared the land with the tyrannosaurs Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus and the duckbill Corythosaurus.

How it was found

Ryan and colleagues named Medusaceratops in 2010. The type species is Medusaceratops lokii. Its frill bones were found in a bone bed with many animals.

Field gallery

More views of Medusaceratops

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Medusaceratops in its habitat, photo 1

Lived alongside

Found in the same rock formations

A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Medusaceratops.

The evidence

The science behind Medusaceratops

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • Frill bones show a broad central bar and more edge ornaments than the first reconstruction included. On each side, the second ornament from the middle is a large, thick hook that curves forward and outward.
  • Skull bones referred to it from the same bone bed show a long, blade-shaped nose horn and horns over the eyes that point forward and outward.
  • A tail vertebra assigned to Medusaceratops shows a long-lasting bone infection that followed an injury the animal survived.

Borrowed from relatives

  • Its lower beak is restored by comparison with Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus, and its neck, body and legs by comparison with relatives such as Wendiceratops.
  • Albertaceratops and Lokiceratops help explain its place among horned dinosaurs with elaborate frills.

Still unknown

  • Exactly how it is related to Albertaceratops and Lokiceratops. The grouping that links the three is only weakly supported.
  • The full proportions of its body. Its skeleton behind the head has not been fully described.
  • How its frill ornaments changed as it grew.

Discovery timeline

  1. 2010Named itRyan, Russell & Hartman
  2. 2017New findChiba et al.
  3. 2024Family treeLoewen et al.
  4. 2026New findWang et al.

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Medusaceratops

Close relatives

Other members of Ceratopsidae

Sources: Wikidata