English: Anchiceratops ornatus Brown, 1914 - fossil ceratopsian dinosaur skull from the Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. (UW 2419, University of Wyoming Geological Museum, Laramie, Wyoming, USA)
This species is also known as Anchiceratops longirostris.
Ceratopsians are the "horned dinosaurs". They were large, quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs having a beaked skull and a frill - an extension of bone behind the skull that partially covered the neck. Ceratopsian dinosaurs are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The last members of the group died out at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, 65 million years ago.
From exhibit signage:
HORNED DINOSAUR
Anchiceratops longirostris
Edmonton Formation
Late Cretaceous
Munson Ferry, Alberta
A close relative of Triceratops
Anchiceratops ornatus
Geological Time: 75 to 65 million years ago (Late Cretaceous)
Geographic Range: Alberta
Adult Size: About 5 tons
Habitat: Floodplains and stream banks, brackish-water bays
Diet: Plants
Characteristics: Anchiceratops is one of the large horned herbivorous dinosaurs that lived in western Canada at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It is a close relative of the familiar Triceratops (Wyoming's state dinosaur). It differs from Triceratops in its higher and more ornate frill.
The horns and frill of Anchiceratops probably had their most important use in sparring with other members of the species, much as in the contests of modern elk or bighorn sheep. The horns are well situated to allow two individuals to lock heads in a battle for mating rights.
Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Reptilia, Archosauria, Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia, Ceratopsidae
Stratigraphy: Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Edmonton Group. Maastrichtian Stage, upper Upper Cretaceous
Locality: western side of Red Deer River, ~0.5 mile south of Munson Ferry (a.k.a. Bleriot Ferry), northwest of the town of Drumheller, southern Alberta, southwestern Canada
Info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchiceratops