Mosaiceratops
Type species Mosaiceratops azumai
- Lived
- 94 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ceratopsians
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Zheng et al. 2015
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in an inland basin in what is now China, where rivers deposited the Xiaguan Formation. The sauropod Baotianmansaurus is also recorded from these rocks.
Field notes
About Mosaiceratops
What it was like
Mosaiceratops was a small horned dinosaur with a beak and no horns. It had a mix of old and new features, like a mosaic, which gave it its name.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now China. It comes from the Xiaguan Formation, where the sauropod Baotianmansaurus was also found.
How it was found
Zheng and colleagues named Mosaiceratops in 2015. The type species is Mosaiceratops azumai.
Field gallery
More views of Mosaiceratops
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
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 Mosaiceratops.
The evidence
The science behind Mosaiceratops
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skull and skeleton preserve vertebrae, arm bones, hips, hind legs and parts of the feet.
- The front of the upper jaw has a sharp, toothless cutting edge, with chewing teeth farther back.
- The lower leg is longer than the thigh, and the feet are slender with pointed claws.
Borrowed from relatives
- Missing parts of the skull can be restored by comparison with small ceratopsians such as Liaoceratops and Archaeoceratops.
Still unknown
- Its skin covering and color.
- How its head and body changed as it grew.
- Its precise place among early ceratopsian branches.
Discovery timeline
- 2014Close relativeFarke et al.
- 2015Named itZheng, Jin & Xu
- 2018Fossil sitesJackson et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Mosaiceratops
Close relative
Described the skull of Aquilops, another early ceratopsian used for comparison in the description of Mosaiceratops.
A Ceratopsian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Western North America, and the Biogeography of Neoceratopsia. PLoS ONE 9: e112055
Read the paper : A Ceratopsian Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Western North America, and the Biogeography of Neoceratopsia (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described a small ceratopsian combining a toothless upper snout with skull features found in other early horned dinosaurs.
A psittacosaurid-like basal neoceratopsian from the Upper Cretaceous of central China and its implications for basal ceratopsian evolution. Scientific Reports 5
Read the paper : A psittacosaurid-like basal neoceratopsian from the Upper Cretaceous of central China and its implications for basal ceratopsian evolution (opens in a new tab)Fossil sites
Identified the eggs beside the Mosaiceratops skeleton as turtle eggs from the crystals preserved in their shells.
Fossil eggs associated with a neoceratopsian (Mosaiceratops azumai) from the Upper Cretaceous Xiaguan Formation, Henan Province, China. Cretaceous Research 91: 457-467
Read the paper : Fossil eggs associated with a neoceratopsian (Mosaiceratops azumai) from the Upper Cretaceous Xiaguan Formation, Henan Province, China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Neoceratopsia
Sources: Wikidata