ceratopsian

/ser'euh top"see euhn/, n.

any of several four-footed, herbivorous dinosaurs of the suborder Ceratopsia, of the late Cretaceous Period, having an enlarged skull with a beak, a large perforated frill at the back, and, in some species, one or three horns. Also called horned dinosaur.

[ < NL Ceratopsi(a) (see CERAT-, -OPSIS, -IA) + -AN]

* * *

▪ dinosaur taxon

also called  ceratopian  

      any of a group of plant-eating dinosaurs (dinosaur) from the Cretaceous Period (146 million to 66 million years ago) characterized by a bony frill on the back of the skull and a unique upper beak bone, called a rostral.

   The ceratopsians comprise three lineages (see images). Members of the Psittacosauridae, including Psittacosaurus, were mostly bipedal and lived during the Early Cretaceous; they had a beak, a small frill, and no horns. Members of the Protoceratopsidae, including Protoceratops and Leptoceratops, were mostly quadrupedal and slightly larger and lived from the Early to Late Cretaceous; these dinosaurs had a somewhat larger frill but no horns. The third group, Ceratopsidae, had very large frills and horns on the nose and above the eyes. This group includes Triceratops and Torosaurus. Triceratops was unusual among ceratopsians in that its bony head frill was short and of solid bone; in other forms the frills were larger and mostly open in the centre. Ceratopsidae comprised two lineages: the Chasmosaurinae had large eye horns and small nose horns; the Centrosaurinae had small eye horns and large nose horns.

 

* * *