Sinoceratops
Encyclopedia
Sinoceratops is a genus
of ceratopsia
n dinosaur
described by Xu Xing and colleagues in 2010. It lived during the Late Cretaceous
in what is now China. The type species
is S. zhuchengensis.
A basal centrosaurine
, Sinoceratops is significant in that it bears similarities to both centrosaurines and chasmosaurine
s. It was also considerably larger than most other centrosaurines. The skull of sinoceratops is estimated to be 180cm long what makes it one of the largest centrosaurine skulls.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ceratopsia
Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...
n dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
described by Xu Xing and colleagues in 2010. It lived during the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
in what is now China. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is S. zhuchengensis.
A basal centrosaurine
Centrosaurinae
The Centrosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratopsid dinosaurs named by paleontologist Lawrence Lambe, in 1915, with Centrosaurus as the type genus...
, Sinoceratops is significant in that it bears similarities to both centrosaurines and chasmosaurine
Chasmosaurinae
Chasmosaurinae is a subfamily of ceratopsid dinosaurs. Triceratops is a well-known example. They were one of the most successful groups of herbivores of their time. Chasmosaurines appeared in the early Campanian, and became extinct, along with all other non-avian dinosaurs, during the K-T extinction...
s. It was also considerably larger than most other centrosaurines. The skull of sinoceratops is estimated to be 180cm long what makes it one of the largest centrosaurine skulls.