RAWR!

Q: Who is the first ceratopsian that first appear? Irvine

A: Good question Irvine! As you know, ceratopsians only lived during the Cretaceous perod. Still, their history is a little fuzzy because of an incomplete fossil record. Ceratopsians are very well known for being the most “all-american” dinosaur. That is, the vast majority of their fossils come from North America, and a few in Asia.

As far as paleontologists can tell, the earliest known ceratopsian dinosaur is Psittacosaurus. Unlike other ceratopsians, these guys were bi-pedal (walked on two feet) dinosaurs and were about the size of a gazelle. Psittacosaurus is a genus of dinosaur, and known for having the most species of dinosaurs than any other genus even though it is not as famous as the Triceratops. They first showed up on the earth during the Early Cretaceous around 130-100 million years ago.

Their sharp beak is perhaps the most significant characteristic it shares with other ceratopsians. The rest of it doesn’t look too similar to a Triceratops though!

-Rex

Looks like he needs to mow his tail!

Happy Monday, dinos! You know I like my ceratopsians, so here’s another question about them:

Did ceratopsians have tail feathers?  – Regisaurus

Surprisingly enough, the answer appears to be yes – sort of!  In 2002 paleontologists announced that they had discovered a specimen of Psittacosaurus with a series of hollow, tubular bristles arranged in a row down the top of its tail, in a plume formation. Psittacosaurus (Greek for “parrot lizard”) was a small ceratopsian from the Early Cretaceous Period, one of the earliest ceratopsians.

On a related note, you may remember from Pterry’s True Science last month that we now have evidence of dino color from the recent discovery of a dinosaur called Sinosauropteryx that was found in China. They found a reddish-orange color in tail feathers of one of the specimens.

Thanks for that interesting question, Regisaurus! I learned something new! Keep ‘em coming!

~ModCeno