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horned dinosaur
Protoceratops
Say it like this: “PROH-toh-SERR-uh-tops”
Protoceratops andrewsi
Protoceratops ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia and China.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1923 · Granger, W.; Gregory, W. K.
- Hip height
- 0.8 m · 2 ft
- Length
- 1.7–2.5 m · 6–8 ft
- Weight
- 60–180 kg · 132–397 lb
- Found in
- Mongolia and China · Djadokhta
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- horned dinosaur · Ceratopsian
- Family branch
- Protoceratopsidae
The story in short
The genus Protoceratops dates to 1923, the year W. Granger and W. K. Gregory described it. The name means “first horned face.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia and China, including the Djadokhta Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Protoceratops at a length near 1.7–2.5 m, hips about 0.8 m high, and a body mass around 60–180 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Protoceratopsidae, among the horned dinosaurs.
This entry is the whole genus. The type species is Protoceratops andrewsi. Other named species include Protoceratops hellenikorhinus.
Other species with this name
- Protoceratops andrewsi
- Protoceratops hellenikorhinus
Close relatives
Bagaceratops
Bagaceratops rozhdestvenskyi
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Bainoceratops
Bainoceratops efremovi
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Breviceratops
Breviceratops kozlowskii
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago