Montanoceratops | Facts & Information
# Montanoceratops | Facts & Information
Montanoceratops | Discover Fascinating Facts and Information About Montanoceratops
This prehistoric animal is considered a primitive form of the Leptoceratopsidae family of dinosaurs that lived in the Mesozoic era, in the Upper Cretaceous, especially in the northern part of North America.
Montanoceratops
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Facts
The group of horned dinosaurs includes species such as Styracosaurus, Centrosaurus, Pentaceratops, Arrhinoceratops and many others. In this series A special place is occupied by the dinosaur Montanoceratops which was distinguished by the fact that it did not have the horn in the forehead, but above the nose.
This family included dinosaurs of modest size, but which survived for millions of years alongside more evolved dinosaurs as a species. Like these, Montanoceratops was of medium size, its length has been estimated by paleontologists at CA. 3 m and weight to 150 kg.
Its fossil remains were discovered in Montana (USA), they also include fossilized eggs, based on which paleontologists Barnum Brown and Erich M. Schlaikjer made a description in 1935 and named this species Leptoceratops cerorhynchus. Much later the species was renamed Montanoceratops cerorhynchus.
It seems that from their point of view this animal is much like the dinosaur Protoceratops that lived in the same period, and its fossil remains were discovered in Mongolia.
The main adornments of a Montanoceratops were the Horn above the nose and a bony Shield on the back of the neck, provided with several orifices covered with skin. The horn on the nose was not bony, it consisted of keratin – a solid protein substance.
The snout ended with a horny beak, and the upper jaw was endowed with a series of teeth, with the help of which he managed to pluck even harder plant material.
Another element that made the Montanoceratops really spectacular was its very thick tail, supported in the horizontal position by long vertebrae and tendons, which also gave it Mobility. It was mainly used as a weapon against predatory dinosaurs, but was also involved in parades to attract females during the mating season.
This prehistoric animal always moved on its four legs, because the forelimbs were shorter than the hind ones. All were robust, muscular, had thick paws finished with fingers and hoofed nails.
Because of this, the thick and strong tail did not fulfill the role of counterweight, which appeared in dinosaurs that ran only on the hind limbs.
Feeding Montanoceratops
This dinosaur lived in forested areas and its food was made up of plants.
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Montanoceratops | Facts & InformationMontanoceratops | Discover Fascinating Facts and Information About Montanoceratops