early ceratopsids and proceratopsids

Linnaeus

Hello all,

It's fascinating to think that ponderous quadrupeds like Triceratops had small, light, bipedal ancestors like Yinlong downsi, found in China and now considered to be the earliest in the line of ceratopsids:

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

This little fellow was swift and agile. His diet seems to have been mainly vegetarian, although he might have savoured insects now and then. There are no horns, just a very small crest, and little means of defense, so Yinlong must have been rather vulnerable. His Chinese name means "the hidden dragon"; being relatively small and defenseless, he may indeed have spent a lot of time hiding from predators.

I remember seeing an illustration of a similar very early ceratopsid or protoceratopsid, similar in physiognomy to Yinlong...This, too, was light and bipedal...Please, can someone help me to remember its name? Thanks.

Adam Khor

Well, there's several primitive ceratopsians that look very similar to Yinlong, including Hualianceratops, which was just announced days ago:

http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/hualianceratops-wucaiwanensis-new-species-ceratopsian-dinosaur-china-03504.html



There's also Archaeoceratops and Liaoceratops which also look quite similar, as well as early Cretaceous Aquilops (another recent discovery), and even some late Cretaceous relatives had the same basic design, take Leptoceratops for example:



Not all of them "primitive" ceratopsians were small, by the way. At least one of them, Udanoceratops, would be considered a very large animal if it existed today, even if it was still small compared to say, Triceratops.

Linnaeus

Hello Adam,


Yes, I had already seen the illustration of Hualianceratops; this new species seems rather atypical to me. Maybe the early ceratopsid I am thinking of is Gryphoceratops, but I'm not sure; I do remember that it is quite small and light, devoid of horns, practically no crest...Possibly a pro-or protoceratopsid.

The search goes on.

Laquintasaura, discovered in Venezuela in 2014, is said to be an ancestor of the ceratopsians. It does not resemble them very much at all, at least in reconstruction. Please take a look at the following link:

www.3news.co.nz/.../triceratops-ancestor-a-turkeysized...

Adam Khor

Link didn´t work

I have never read anything about Laquintasaura being an ancestor to ceratopsians; it is, however, an early ornithischian, meaning it belonged to the same group as ceratopsians, ornithopods and tyreophorans (armored and plated dinos). I wouldn´t be surprised if the press called it a Triceratops ancestor same way every new theropod announced is said to be a T. rex cousin, ancestor, grandfather, expy or equivalent... news readers must pay more attention to healdines with famous names on them.

I personally think the ancestors of ceratopsians must have been very similar to heterodontosaurids- or perhaps even one of them, much like the Pegomastax below. Some early ceratopsians even had small tusks.

Adam Khor

As for the animal you're looking for, could you be thinking about Psittacosaurus?

Linnaeus

Sorry about the link...It appears written in this form online. Oh, I hate copying out link addresses...They are so often faulty.

If you look in Google for the title "Triceratops ancestor a turkeysized creature", the article will appear. Right, it's not very convincing, but please do read the author's arguments anyway.

Linnaeus

Similar to Psittacosaurus, yes, but not so "parroty" looking. Light and streamlined, with a "cutey-cute" little face. This must have been one of the oldest recognizable proto- and ceratopsid ancestors.

Adam Khor

Linnaeus wrote: »

Similar to Psittacosaurus, yes, but not so "parroty" looking. Light and streamlined, with a "cutey-cute" little face. This must have been one of the oldest recognizable proto- and ceratopsid ancestors.

Chaoyangsaurus?

Linnaeus

This may be the one, although I don't remember the tail bristles. He's certainly as cute as can be.:)

Adam Khor

The tail bristles are speculation based on those found with new Psittacosaurus fossils. There's absolutely no hard evidence that Chaoyangsaurus had them, at least to my knowledge.

That's why you can´t trust artistic dinosaur depictions these days. The moment a dinosaur is found with feathers or dermal spikes or crests or what have you, everyone starts depicting all relatives of said creature with the same ornaments.
Yet look at a lion, a tiger and a leopard and you'll know being closely related does not equate looking alike, externally at least.

Linnaeus

Dear Adam,

Here's an amazing illustration of an early ceratopsid...I found this at i.huffpost.com...The creature, unfortunately, is not identified...Which species is this?

Observe the adorable baby ceratopsids in the background. Whoever the artist is, he or she has recreated a lovely, intense, believable moment of prehistoric life.slide_392938_4796478_free.jpg

Adam Khor

It's a representation of the recently discovered Aquilops; you can tell by the forward-jutting "horn" on the beak. This is a feature not seen on any other ceratopsian, to my knowledge.

The artist's name is Brian Engh.

Linnaeus

Thanks, Adam. This horn on the beak is an interesting feature, and demonstrates that even early ceratopsids were rapidly evolving for the purpose of defense.

Brian Engh is obviously a very talented artist. Congratulations to him for making dinosaurs come alive before our eyes.

Aquilops is palaeontologically important, but not cute like Chaoyangsaurus. The illustration which you sent me of this latter ceratopsian is really gorgeous. What a charming little creature: one of the most appealing dinos I've ever seen. Not all of them were huge warty bruisers! Take Troodon formosus, for example: the "beautiful Troodon". Limusaurus, too. The Ichthysaurs were not dinosaurs, but I find them especially cute.

Who is the artist who did that beautiful illustration of Chaoyangsaurus which you sent me? He/she deserves a crown of laurel for having created a genuine dinosaur "portrait", atmosphere, emotion and all.

Here's another splendid rendering of Chaoyangsaurus:

bc4d51e5a50885bf9bd93a5d33c7a1e5.jpg

Adam Khor

The Chaoyangsaurus is by Peter Buchholz.

He's also the artist who drew this reconstruction of the mysterious African ornithopod Lurdusaurus based on its known remains, demonstrating that it was quite a lot more bizarre than previously imagined (probably semi-aquatic animal with a long neck and a squat, low to the ground body not unlike that of a hippopotamus).

Linnaeus

Thanks, Adam. I will look up Lurdusaurus in Internet, and will send my comments.