Unescoceratops
Type species Unescoceratops koppelhusae
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ceratopsians, Leptoceratopsidae
- Found in
- Canada
- Named by
- Ryan et al. 2012
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
The Dinosaur Park Formation records a low coastal plain with rivers and forests. Conifers rose above ferns and other low plants; Gorgosaurus, Styracosaurus and Parasaurolophus lived in this region.
Field notes
About Unescoceratops
What it was like
Unescoceratops was a small, early horned dinosaur from the leptoceratopsid family. It had a beak and a short frill but no real horns. It is known from a lower jaw.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Alberta, Canada. Its jaw comes from the Dinosaur Park Formation, where it shared the land with the tyrannosaur Gorgosaurus, the horned Styracosaurus and the small hunter Troodon.
How it was found
Ryan and colleagues named it in 2012. The type species is Unescoceratops koppelhusae. It is named after an international cultural agency that lists the park where it was found as a world heritage site.
Field gallery
More views of Unescoceratops
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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 Unescoceratops.
The evidence
The science behind Unescoceratops
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The type specimen is part of the left lower jaw. A separate partial right lower jaw has been referred to Unescoceratops.
- The type jaw has a chin-like flange along its lower front edge.
- The teeth in the type jaw have rounded profiles that helped separate it from other small horned dinosaurs.
Borrowed from relatives
- Leptoceratops provides a comparison for the missing upper face and frill; Cerasinops provides broader comparisons for the neck, chest and parts of the forelimbs.
Still unknown
- Its complete skull shape and body proportions.
- Its skin color and how it grew from hatchling to adult.
- Its closest relatives; analyses of small horned dinosaurs have placed it differently.
Discovery timeline
- 2010Family treeXu et al.
- 2012Named itRyan et al.
- 2013Its worldMallon et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Unescoceratops
Family tree
Described Zhuchengceratops, a relative with a deep lower jaw, and compared the jaws and relationships of small horned dinosaurs.
A New Leptoceratopsid (Ornithischia: Ceratopsia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong, China and Its Implications for Neoceratopsian Evolution. PLoS ONE 5: e13835
Read the paper : A New Leptoceratopsid (Ornithischia: Ceratopsia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong, China and Its Implications for Neoceratopsian Evolution (opens in a new tab)Named it
Named Unescoceratops and Gryphoceratops from partial jaws, revealing more kinds of small horned dinosaurs in Canada.
New leptoceratopsids from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research 35: 69-80
Read the paper : New leptoceratopsids from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada (opens in a new tab)Its world
Found that most local plant eaters fed close to the ground, while duckbills could reach higher vegetation.
Feeding height stratification among the herbivorous dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada. BMC Ecology 13: 14
Read the paper : Feeding height stratification among the herbivorous dinosaurs from the Dinosaur Park Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Leptoceratopsidae
Sources: Wikidata