Episode 170 is all about Auroraceratops, a neoceratopsian whose name means “dawn horned face.”

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

The dinosaur of the day: Auroraceratops

Neoceratopsian that lived in the Cretaceous in what is now north central China and South Korea Described in 2005 by You, Li, Ji, Lamanna, and Dodson Name means “dawn horned face” Name is a combination of the fact that it’s an early ceratopsian and a reference to Dawn Dodson, Peter Dodson’s wife (Peter was one of the paleontologists who described Auroraceratops), Aurora means “dawn” in Latin Type species: Auroraceratops rugosus Species name means rough in Latin, and refers to the rough areas on the skull and jaw Only one known specimen, a subadult, and consists of a nearly complete skull Had a shorter, wider snout, compared to other neoceratopsians Snout was high and round Skull was flat and wide Rough parts of the skull were probaby covered in keratin, which may have helped protect it in butting or pushing contests (fighting for dominance or mating rights) Herbivorous Had two pairs of fang-like teeth in the premaxilla, though it’s not clear why. May have been for digging and helping to grip onto plants to pull them out of the ground About 6.5 ft (2 m) long Second basal neoceratopsian found in the Mazong Shan area of China. The first one was Archaeoceratops. Another similar ceratopsian that lived around the same time but in a different area (Liaoning Province) was Liaceratops. Auroraceratops has enough differences in its skull to warrant being its own genus



Fun Fact:

We are in (or just past) peak dinosaur discovery.

This episode was brought to you by:

TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and exhibits. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs.

And by the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which is located in southern Alberta, Canada. Right now they are exhibiting their free-to-attend Winter speaker series (also on YouTube). More information can be found at tyrrellmuseum.com.