Ceratopsians

Ceratopsians are a group of dinosaurs that have a frill around the back of their skull. Most Ceratopsians have horns on their face thus being given the name “Ceratops” from the greek “Horned face.” Two of the known Ceratops had no horns, the Protoceratops and the Psittacosaurus. Though they have the traditional parrot beak associated with the Ceratopsians. The Ceratopsians have a beak like mouth and most have facial horns and a large frill as part of the skull. They have large thick legs to support their weight and tails. The frills can be different shapes and sizes. Some Ceratopsians have a shorter skull and frill compared to the larger ones, like the Torosaurus, whose skull is 8 to 11 ½ feet long from beak to the top of the frill. The horns on their face can range from one horn on their nose to a rack of horns on their entire face and frill such as the Styracosaurus. Ceratopsians are generally large dinosaurs about the size of a minibus. They range in size from 11.5 feet to about 30 feet long from head to tail. The larger ones stand about 16 feet tall and weigh close to six and a half tons. The well known Triceratops is one of the largest and heaviest of the kind. It is believed that there are about 30 types of Ceratopsians, though it is argued that some of these many types may be either fossils of an already existing Ceratopsian breed or they could be fossils of different aged dinosaurs. There appears to be about twelve different skull patterns having a different horn pattern or a different frill shape. There have been many fossils found of the Ceratopsians, most being found in North America. The first Ceratopsian fossil was found in Montana, USA in 1876. A complete Triceratops skull was found in Colorado in 1889. Some triceratops skulls measure seven feet long and weigh about 1000 pounds. When and where did Ceratopsians live? There is trace evidence of when and where they lived. Ceratopsians fossils have been found mostly in North America. Some of the smaller types have been found in Asia and Mongolia. There are ancient artifacts that date from 100AD to 800 AD in South America with engravings of a Triceratops on them. Protoceratops have been encountered in central Asia around 487 BC. Some scientists say the encounter was with a fossil do to the theory that these dinosaurs were extinct prior to the encounter. The details of the encounter with the Protoceratops was carried by word of mouth to Greece where they gave the animal a Greek name Griffin and created a statue of the griffin from the description brought in from Asia. The only resemblance that remained true to the story was the beaked mouth. Are Ceratopsian “dinosaurs” extinct? Could they still be alive today? There is trace evidence that Ceratopsians are alive today. In the Congo of Africa the natives say they have seen and call the Ceratopsians that live in the swanps “Emela-Ntouka,” They also call them Elephant and Rhinoceros killers. Many creatures believed to be extinct are alive today. They live in isolated and highly unpopulated areas of the world. The rain forests of South America and the jungles of Africa or even in the woods of North America, these rare animals are being seen as people move in around them.******************************************************************************* **************Ceratopsians Gallary***************************