#turanoceratops

[unscrupulousartist]

Turanoceratops looks to be about the size of a large dog. An Herbivore, turanoceretops lived in the second age of the Upper Cretaceous.

[drowsydragonz]

trade with my friend :) @survivaicraft oc uses: any pronouns

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

also I'm sorry for forgetting elasmarians in ornithopods I promise to include them in the misc one

[alphynix]

Ceratopsian Month #08 -- Turanoceratops tardabilis

Turanoceratops (“Turan horned face”) was very slightly younger than Zuniceratops, living about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous. At around 2m long (6′6″) it was another small transitional form very very closely related to the true ceratopsids, but there’s still disagreement about whether it was actually a proper member of that group or not.

Its fossil remains were discovered in Uzbekistan, making it the earliest ceratopsid-like ceratopsian known from Asia rather than North America -- and showing that there were still populations of ceratopsians dispersing back and forth between the two continents.

Only fragmentary fossils have been found, so while we know it had large brow horns we don’t know whether it had a nose horn or what the shape of its frill was. So most of the rest of its appearance here is rather speculative.

[neovenatorgirlteeth]

HEHEHE HIII, what are YOUR favourite dinosaurs/prehistoric species!!

OOOOOOOHHH BAPY ITS TIME. Thanks for asking!!!! I could literally talk about dinosaurs and palaeontology for days without stopping if you’d let me. You have opened Pandora’s box and it ain’t shutting.

Sosososo I’ve always been a fan of the sauropods, and Brachiosaurus was my first favourite dinosaur, but it was pretty quickly overtaken by Sauroposeidon!! This behemoth from middle Cretaceous USA has often been restored as a pumped-up Brachiosaurus due to its incomplete nature, leading to height estimates of up to 18m tall!!!! MAKING IT THE TALLEST ANIMAL TO EVER EXIST!!!!!! That’s pretty sick in my opinion, though more recent estimates have shaved it down to a still impressive 15m after considering its place on the sauropod evolutionary tree, closer to the titanosaurs than Brachiosaurus is. Sorry I couldn’t help but say my piece about Sauroposeidon while I had the opportunity. It’s still my favourite dinosaur, though the mysterious Bruhathkayosaurus did hold the title for a little while when I was like 8? 9? And I sometimes consider Dreadnoughtus to be joint favourite thanks to a combination of Prehistoric Planet and some talks that I listened to by its discoverer, Kenneth Lacovara.

OTHER FAVOURITE (non avilaean) DINOSAURS INCLUDE, in no particular order:

SAUROPODOMORPHS

Dreadnoughtus, as I mentioned

Unaysaurus

Argentinosaurus

Apatosaurus, PALAEOACCURATE ONLY

Mamenchisaurus

Liaoningtitan

Brachiosaurus

Dzharatitanis

THEROPODS

Dakotaraptor, thanks to Saurian

Latenivenatrix

Zhenyuanlong, thanks to Steve Brusatte

Therizinosaurus

Anzu, again, Saurian

Khaan

Yutyrannus, particularly when restored with the headcrest

Juratyrant

Gorgosaurus

Metriacanthosaurus

Saurophaganax, mainly because it has a kickass name

Carcharodontosaurus

Neovenator, obviously

Eustreptospondylus

Baryonyx

Oxalaia, which is really fun to say

Masiakasaurus

Dracovenator, like Dilophosaurus but more obscure. And from South Africa.

Coelophysis

ORNITHISCHIANS

Triceratops

Turanoceratops

Protoceratops, thanks to Dinosaur Planet

Stegoceras

Aralosaurus

Edmontosaurus, particularly E.annetens

Saurolophus

Charonosaurus, like Parasaurolophus but more obscure. And from China.

Maiasaura, because in BestInSlot hated it in Jurassic World Evolution so it reflexively became one of my favourites out of spite/pity. It’s also cool in its own right don’t get me wrong.

Orodromeus. Hee hee. She dig

Lurdusaurus. I actually think it was Beasts of Bermuda that sold me on this one

Altirhinus. The schnoz on this man

Iguanodon

Rhabdodon

Dryosaurus

Heterodontosaurus

Scelidosaurus, particularly after seeing Prehistoric Kingdom’s rendering of it

Jakapil, newly discovered and straight on the list babey

Stegosaurus

Tuojiangosaurus. Spikey

Sauropelta

Borealopelta. WE KNOW WHAT COLOUR IT WAS!!!!

Ankylosaurus

Saiachania. Yes it is because of Dinosaur King.

Crichtonsaurus

Ok I lied there was an order. I sorted them by taxonomic Order. Also sorry there was so many I kept thinking of more. That was 52 I total??? 53 if you include Sauroposeidon. I just couldn’t decide.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!!!!!

Particularly as of recent, I’ve become really interested in non-dinosaurs, particularly the megafauna of Cenozoic South America. Though I do have a side blog dedicated to lomg whale Basilosaurus, it’s tying with the terror bird Devincenzia for the top spot I think.

OTHER FAVOURITES INCLUDE:

BIRDS

Kelenken, another terror bird

Gastornis, thought to be terror bird-esque up until recently when it was revealed to be a fruit eater

Dinornis, the Moa

Hieriaaetus, Haast’s Eagle

Confusciousornis

Anchiornis, if you consider it a bird

Vegavis

MAMMALS

Megatherium, the largest of the giant ground sloths

Doedicurus

Panochtus

Macrauchenia

Toxodon, which probably lived like a hippo

Thylacosmilus

Hyaenodon, in all its many species

Enteldon, my favourite of the Entelodonts

Embolotherium, the best looking brontothere imo

Chalicotherium

Ancylotherium. I would say thanks to walking with beasts but I think that applies to too many animals here.

Deinotherium

Platybelodon, which I stumbled across in an old encyclopaedia with a friend and had a good laugh at

Coelodonta

Paraceratherium

Leptictidium. The schnoz on this man.

NON-DINOSAURIAN ARCHOSAURS

Hatzegopteryx. WHADDA GAL AMIRITE?

Barbaridactus, thanks to Prehistoric Planet

Tupandactylus

Tropeognathus, thanks to Walking With Dinosaurs, even if they do call it Ornithocheirus.

Thalassodromeus

Istiodactylus

Germanodactylus

Archosaurus. The schnoz on this man

Silesaurus, which is NOT a dinosaur

Desmatosuchus

Saurosuchus, a big land croc

Redondasaurus, one of the largest Phytosaura

Erythrosuchus, with its huge stupid head

Areripesuchus

Dakosaurus, a sea croc

Plesiosuchus, one of the largest sea crocs

Purussaurus

Barinasuchus

Quinkana, the last of the land crocs

NON-ARCHOSAURIAN SAUROPSIDS

Varanus priscus, aka Megalania

Mosasaurus

Tylosaurus

Thalassotitan, also because it has a kickass name

Platecarpus

Pliosaurus, particularly P. rossicus

Kimmerosaurus

Rhomaleosaurus

Tuarangisaurus

Nothosaurus

Temnodontosaurus

Opthalmosaurus

Tanystropheus. NECK

Longisquama

Coelurosauravus. It’s a liddle flying lizard!

Scutosaurus. Chonky dude

NON-MAMMALIAN SYNAPSIDS

Inostrancevia, thanks to Primeval

Lycaenops

Diictodon

Placerias

Lystrosaurus, the survivor

Estemmenosuchus

Tapinocephalus, a barrel of a beast

Edaphosaurus

Dimetrodon

Ophiacodon

NON-AMNIOTE CHORDATES

Koolasuchus, the last of the giant amphibians

Metoposaurus

Prionosuchus

Anthracosaurus

Hynerpeton, thanks to Walking With Monsters

Macnamaraspis

Xiphactinus

Thrissops

Cladoselache, a shark relative

OTHER

Arthropleura

Pulmonoscorpius

Pterygotus

Lyrarapax

Opabinia. IT HAS 5 EYES!!!!

Perisphinctes, a Jurassic ammonite

Belemnotheutis, a Jurassic belemnite

Paradoxoides, a Cambrian trilobite

Ok that’s finally everything. APART FROM THE PLANTS no I’m joking. You see what I said about days? Yeah.

Thank you again for the ask! I hope this wasn’t to much :3

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

Oh look, Udanoceratops! What a good small cerata...It's actually big? WHAT?!?

Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction when I first saw that size diagram. Another ceratopsian that’s really disconcertingly-sized is Turanoceratops.

[illustration by @thewoodparable]

It look like a fairly standard large ceratopsian, right? It’s probably about the size of a Triceratops, maybe a bit smaller or something? Maybe even like the size of Udanoceratops?

In a word? Nope.

It’s tiny. This is basically the size I expected Udanoceratops to be at first, which is really weird. I’m not sure what more to say about this other than “this is really weird and I kinda freaked out when I first saw it”

So yeah, a lot of dinosaurs were way bigger / smaller than what we might think just from looking at them, and it’s pretty cool.

[seghs24]

Anyways

I mentioned a few times about getting literally everything from the Beasts of the Mesozoic kickstarter and stuff is going to be shipping soon dfgsjfdsg

Some stuff is shipping out next month and some stuff is gonna start shipping in February and I’m  S O  E X C I T E D

Also next year he’s (hopefully) going to start his next Kickstarter project, one for Ceratopsians!! I’m going to save up and support this one directly (I only got the raptors on Backerkit, I didn’t make it in time for the KS). I wanna get everything on the KS (esp if he has a limited color one like the first KS’s blue raptor)

Ceratopsians I’m most excited for:

Achelousaurus

Wendiceratops

Sinoceratops

Pentaceratops

Machairoceratops

Titanoceratops

Zuniceratops

Einiosaurus

Nasutoceratops

Coronosaurus

Styracosaurus

Rubeosaurus

Diabloceratops

Agujaceratops

Protoceratops

Turanoceratops

Graciliceratops

Psittacosaurus

[ablazeko]

Dinomas, Day N°08  Dinosaurs building a little nativity scene

Bissekty Formation dinosaurs make a nativity scene

@a-dinosaur-a-day

[palaeopedia]

The Turan horn face, Turanoceratops (1989)

Phylum : Chordata Class : Reptilia Order : Ornithischia Superfamily : Ceratopsoidea Family : Ceratopsidae Genus : Turanoceratops Species : T. tardabilis

Late Cretaceous (90 Ma)

2 m long and 250 kg (size)

Bissekty formation, Uzbekistan (map)

Ceratopsians, the horned, frilled dinosaurs, followed a neat evolutionary arc: small, ancestral genera like Chaoyangsaurus and Psittacosaurus sprouted up in Asia during the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods, and by the end of the Mesozoic Era, their larger, more prominently horned and frilled descendants (like Triceratops) were restricted to North America. That's what makes Turanoceratops so controversial: this dinosaur was discovered in Uzbekistan in sediments dating to the cusp of the late Cretaceous period (90 million years ago), a time when most ceratopsians should have fully vacated Eurasia. Most likely, Turanoceratops was a neoceratopsid rather than a full-fledged ceratopsid, which almost (but not quite) solves the mystery of its existence.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Is it only me that thinks that Diabloceratops and Machairoceratops could be basal to Ceratopsidae? Since both are more derived-looking than Zuniceratops or Turanoceratops, but more basal than like Nasutoceratops or Kosmoceratops. Could it be possible Machairoceratops and Diablo are late surviving basal Ceratopsoids?

maybe, it's not that many steps from where they are now, but they do firmly come up in centrosaurinae in most analyses. I'd have to look at the paper for the confidence levels / statistical analysis of that placement, though.

[quark-nova]

Maybe start with something smaller? Turanoceratops maybe?

this is going to sound really weird but I have a mild fear of triceratops. Do you have any content on them, I’m trying exposure therapy?

I mean, I have plenty, but is this really a fear you need to solve? Like, they're... very very dead. not coming back, completely gone, dead.

idk I just know I'm a pile of mental illness in a trenchcoat and I have to prioritize what I work on and I figure other ppl do too so...

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Turanoceratops tardabilis

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

PLEASE support us on Patreon! We really do need all of your support to keep this blog running - any amount helps!

Name: Turanoceratops tardabilis

Name Meaning: Turkestan Horned Face

First Described: 1989

Described By: Nesov et al.

Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia, Neoceratopsia, Coronosauria, Ceratopsoidea

Our first Ceratopsoid! We’re onto the main - and most famous - group of Ceratopsians, and this is a transitional form between the early Ceratopsians we’ve been looking at, and the later forms. It was originally described off of fragmentary remains, however a more complete skeleton was described in 2009. It had long brow horns like many later Ceratopsids, which wasn’t really seen outside of Ceratopsoidea. It was found in the Bissekty Formation in Uzbekistan, dating back to the Turonian to Coniacian ages of the Late Cretaceous, approximately 90 to 85 million years ago. Don’t let it’s similarity to more derived Ceratopsids fool you - this was a small animal, only about two meters long and less than one meter tall. It lived alongside  other dinosaurs such as Levnesovia, Gilmoreosaurus, Cionodon, Bissektipelta, Caenagnathasia, Euronychodon, Itemirus, Kuszholia, Timurlengia, Urbacodon, Zhyraornis, Platannavis, Abavornis, Catenoleimus, Explorornis, Incolornis, Kizylkumavis, Kuszholia, Lenesornis, Sazavis, and Zhyraornis. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turanoceratops

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratopsia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bissekty_Formation

Shout out goes to @tommy-pulled-the-trigger!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Caenagnathasia martinsoni

By José Carlos Cortés 

Etymology: Recent Jaw from Asia

First Described By: Currie et al., 1994

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Oviraptorosauria, Caenagnathoidea, Caenagnathidae, Elmisaurinae

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 92 and 90 million years ago, in the Turonian of the Late Cretaceous 

Caenagnathasia is known from the Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan 

Physical Description: Caenagnathasia was a Chickenparrot, and of the kind with particularly long and shallow jaws, with complex ridges inside. Caenagnathids also were more lightly built than Oviraptorids, with more hollow bones, more slender arms and long, gracile legs. They also weren’t very adapted for running as in other Oviraptorosaurs. Caenagnathasia, however, is not very well known. It’s known from a few jaws from a few individuals, as well as some vertebrae and a femur. We do know that Caenagnathasia is one of the smallest known oviraptorosaurs, and one of the smallest non-avian dinosaurs on the whole. It probably was about 0.61 meters long, and weighed 1.4 kilograms. Other than that, it probably would have resembled other oviraptorosaurs in general - fully feathered and bird like, with extensive wings, a tail fan, a beak, and long legs. It also was probably one of the more basal Caenagnathids.

Diet: Like other Oviraptorosaurs, Caenagnathasia was probably an omnivore.

Behavior: It is likely that Caenagnathasia behaved similarly to other Oviraptorosaurs, though we have no proof either way on that score. It probably would have taken care of its young, creating a large nest with eggs laid around the edge. Caenagnathasia would then sit in the center of the nest and use its wings to keep the eggs warm, like modern birds. These eggs were ovular and elongated, and potentially teal or turquoise in color. Caenagnathasia would have also been an an active, warm-blooded animal, using its wings to communicate with other members of the species and in sexual display. It also would have probably been opportunistic in terms of food eaten, feeding on whatever it could get its wings on. 

By Ripley Cook 

Ecosystem: The Bissekty Formation was a diverse Middle Cretaceous seashore, filled with brackish swamps and braided rivers along the coast. It probably would have been filled with horsetails, cycads, ferns, and early flowering plants, though no plant fossils are known from the formation. There were a variety of animals in this ecosystem, especially many transitional forms to the iconic dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous. There was Turanoceratops, a forerunner of Ceratopsids like Triceratops; Levnesovia, an almost-hadrosaurid, as well as other ornithopods Gilmoreosaurus and Cionodon; Bissektipelta, an ankylosaur; Timurlengia, a transitional Tyrannosaurid; Itemirus, one of the earliest known possible Velociraptorines; the troodontids Urbacodon and Euronychodon, and a variety of early birds such as Platanavis, Zhyraornis, and opposite birds like Abavornis, Catenoleimus, Explorornis, Incolornis, Kizylkumavis, Kuszholia, Lenesornis, and Sazavis. There was also a probable Ornithomimosaur that has not yet been named.

Non-dinosaurs were also present, including the huge pterosaur Azhdarcho, many different kinds of fish, some turtles, amphibians, and even sharks that were adapted to the ample brackish water. There were a lot of crocodylomorphs, too, like Zhyrasuchus, Zholsuchus, Kansajsuchus, and an alligatoroid, Tadzhikosuchus. There were also a lot of weird Iguanas, and early mammals as well - herbivorous Zhelestids, burrowing Asiorhyctitherians, insectivorous Zalambdalestids, almost-marsupials, and rodent-like Cimolodonts. This is surely an exciting ecosystem for further research, as it showcases a transition from the Early Cretaceous, to the Late.

Other:

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Averianov, A.O. 2002. An ankylosaurid (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) braincase from the Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. Bulletin de l'Institute Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre 72. 97–110. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Currie, P.J.; Russell, D.A. (1988). "Osteology and relationships of Chirostenotes pergracilis (Saurischia, Theropoda) from the Judith River Oldman Formation of Alberta". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 25 (3): 972–986.

Currie, P.J.; Godfrey, S.J.; Nessov, L. (1994). "New caenagnathid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and Asia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 30 (10–11): 2255–2272.

Kurochkin, 2000. Mesozoic birds of Mongolia and the former USSR. in Benton, Shishkin, Unwin and Kurochkin, eds. The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. 533-559.

Lamanna, M. C.; Sues, H. D.; Schachner, E. R.; Lyson, T. R. (2014). "A New Large-Bodied Oviraptorosaurian Theropod Dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of Western North America". PLoS ONE. 9 (3): e92022.

Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 152.

Redman, C.M., and L.R. Leighton. 2009. Multivariate faunal analysis of the Turonian Bissekty Formation: Variation in the degree of marine influence in temporally and spatially averaged fossil assemblages. PALAIOS 24. 18–26. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Sato, T., Y. Cheng, X. Wu, D. K. Zelenitsky, Y. Hsaiao. 2005. A pair of shelled eggs inside a female dinosaur. Science 308 (5720): 375.

Sues, H.-D., and A. Averianov. 2009. Turanoceratops tardabilis—the first ceratopsid dinosaur from Asia. Naturwissenschaften 96. 645–652. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Sues, H.-D.; Averianov, A. 2015. "New material of Caenagnathasia martinsoni (Dinosauria: Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan". Cretaceous Research. 54: 50–59.

Sues, H-D., and A. Averianov. 2016. Ornithomimidae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan. Cretaceous Research 57. 90–110. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka (eds.) Osmólska. 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21.ISBN 0-520-24209-2

Wiemann, J., T.-R. Yang, P. N. Sander, M. Schneider, M. Engeser, S. Kath-Schorr, C. E. Müller, P. M. Sander. 2017. Dinosaur origin of egg color: oviraptors laid blue-green eggs. PeerJ 5: e3706.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Platanavis nana

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Platan Bird

First Described By: Nesov, 1992

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 92 and 90 million years ago, in the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous 

Platanavis is known from the Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan 

Physical Description: Platanavis, for better or worse, is only known from a portion of the fused vertebrae above the hip - the synsacrum. As such, we don’t know much about it. We can seem to determine that it was a small proto-bird of some kind, and as such given the time of it being found it was probably not a modern bird (Neornithean). The size was small, and the synsacrum structure indicates that it was probably a short-tailed Avialan - somewhere around the split between Opposite Birds (Enantiornithine) and True Birds (Euornithine). So, what we can glean from that is that Platanavis was small, it was very bird-like, and it probably still had teeth in its mouth. It had a narrow, deep, and not-grooved hip. Beyond that, we cannot be sure.

Diet: Given we know very little of the morphology - especially mouth and teeth shape - of Platanavis, we can’t be sure of its diet; omnivore is probably the most likely thing we can say right now.

Behavior: Well, Platanavis could probably fly in some way, and it probably took care of its young and watched its eggs. Beyond that, we can’t really say much.

Ecosystem: The Bissekty Formation was a very diverse, “middle” Cretaceous seashore ecosystem, filled with brackish swamps and braided rivers along the coast. Unfortunately, the plant life of this environment is not known, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was filled with horsetails and cycads and ferns, as well as some early flowering plants. It also would have been a very warm environment, being near the equator. 

By Ripley Cook 

This was an ecosystem filled with a variety of animals that were early versions of the iconic creatures of the Latest Cretaceous, especially in the dinosaurs. There was Turanoceratops, a forerunner of Ceratopsids like Triceratops and Styrcosaurus; Levnesovia, an Ornithopod very close to the soon-to-appear Hadrosaurids; Timurlengia, a transitional Tyrannosaur; Itemirus, one of the earliest known Velociraptorines (possibly, anyway); and Caenagnathasia, one of the earliest “advanced” Chickenparrots. There were loads of proto-birds, too, not just Platanavis - the “True Bird” Zhyraornis, and a gaggle of Opposite Birds including Abavornis, Catenoleimus, Explorornis, Incolornis, Kizylkumavis, Kuszholia, Lenesornis, and Sazavis. Troodontids like Urbacodon and Euronychodon were present, as was some sort of ornithomimosaur. There was also the ankylosaur Bissektipelta, and the ornithopods Gilmoreosaurus and Cionodon.

Non-Dinosaurs in the Bissekty included the huge pterosaur Azhdarcho, a variety of fish, a handful of turtles, some amphibians, and some sharks - many of which were adapted to brackish water that would have been common in the environment. There were also a very diverse selection of crocodylomorphs such as Zhyrasuchus, Zholsuchus, Kansajsuchus, and the earlier alligatoroid Tadzhikosuchus. There were also weird extinct relatives of Iguanas. In addition to all of this, there were a lot of early mammals, weird herbivorous Zhelestids and burrowing Asioryctitherians and insectivorous Zalambdalestids and almost-Marsupials and the rodent-like Cimolodonts. More research on this formation is sure to reveal more fascinating finds!

Other: Platanavis has a similar deep synsacrum to Gobipteryx, and given their similar range and Gobipteryx coming later, perhaps they’re closely related. This would make Platanavis an Enantiornithine, though of course that’s a very preliminary idea.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Averianov, A.O. 2002. An ankylosaurid (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) braincase from the Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. Bulletin de l'Institute Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre 72. 97–110. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Kurochkin, 2000. Mesozoic birds of Mongolia and the former USSR. in Benton, Shishkin, Unwin and Kurochkin, eds. The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. 533-559.

Mourer-Chauvire, 1989. Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution Information Newsletter. 3.

Nessov, 1992. Review of localities and remains of Mesozoic and Paleogene birds of the USSR and the description of new findings. Russkii Ornitologicheskii Zhurnal. 1(1), 7-50.

Redman, C.M., and L.R. Leighton. 2009. Multivariate faunal analysis of the Turonian Bissekty Formation: Variation in the degree of marine influence in temporally and spatially averaged fossil assemblages. PALAIOS 24. 18–26. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Sues, H.-D., and A. Averianov. 2009. Turanoceratops tardabilis—the first ceratopsid dinosaur from Asia. Naturwissenschaften 96. 645–652. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Sues, H-D., and A. Averianov. 2016. Ornithomimidae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan. Cretaceous Research 57. 90–110. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka (eds.) Osmólska. 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21.ISBN 0-520-24209-2

[alphynix]

I really am a fan on how u draw your paleoart for such a diverse specie of prehistoric life. You always made each species unique, special and each with many patterns, colours and features to give each creature their characteristics. What is your inspiration? Besides scientific accuracy and theories I mean?

A lot of the time the features I use are inspired by modern animals. For example, some of my ceratopsians’ colors were actually loosely based on things like butterflies (Turanoceratops), jumping spiders (Regaliceratops), and shield-back bugs (Torosaurus).

But sometimes I end up adding on features because a drawing just doesn’t look right without them. If speculative floof or wattles or dewlaps or quills or fat deposits make something feel more visually interesting, then I go with it.

I also think about things like countershading and disruptive coloration, and how even something as large and conspicuous-seeming as a giraffe can actually blend into its natural environment incredibly well. Or how some animals are just deliberately flamboyant, either as a visual warning or mimicry or for display.

With such a huge variety of patterns and colors and weird features around us in nature right now, I find it hard to believe that creatures in the past would have been any less diverse in appearance!

[alphynix]

Ceratopsian Month #13 -- Sinoceratops zhuchengensis

Sinoceratops (“Chinese horned face”) was the first and only ceratopsid known from China, and possibly also the only one known from the entirety of Asia -- depending on whether Turanoceratops counts as a true ceratopsid or not.

Discovered in the Shandong province, it dates to about 73 million years ago and was one of the larger centrosaurs at an estimated length of at least 6m (19′8″).

It had a well-developed nose horn and highly reduced brow horns, and forward-curving spikes around the edge of its frill that gave it a crown-like appearance. Uniquely for a ceratopsid, it also had some protruding bumps just below the spikes, creating a second row of ornamentation.

The presence of Sinoceratops in China shows that at least one lineage of centrosaurs dispersed across to Asia in the Late Cretaceous, but they seem to have been quite rare animals on that side of Beringia. While other dinosaur groups such as hadrosaurs and tyrannosaurs seemed to do just fine on both continents, something prevented the ceratopsids from being nearly as prolific as their North American relatives.