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UDANOCERATOPS

a plant-eating leptoceratopsid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.
udanoceratops.png
Pronunciation: oo-DAHN-o-SEH-ruh-tops
Meaning: Udan Sayr horn face
Author/s: Kurzanov (1992)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Udan Sayr, Mongolia
Discovery Chart Position: #370

Udanoceratops tschizhovi

At an estimated four meters in length, Udanoceratops — Udan Sayr horn face — is the biggest non-ceratopsid neoceratopsian discovered thus far, and bearing in mind the only known adult remains amount to a skull and a far from complete skeleton it could turn out to be bigger.

It is the first Asian representative of Leptoceratopsidae - a branch of ceratopsian ("horn faced") herbivores with a distinct lack of face horns and precious little in the way of a frill, though it did have an astoundingly deep and robust, curved lower jaw and parrot like-beak, probably for nipping needles and leaves from tough ferns, cycads and conifers.

With proportionately long hind legs, paleontologists suspect Udanoceratops was bipedal, but some experts have mused that its deep "rudder-like" tail, formed by long spines on its vertebrae, may have been an adaptation for a semi-aquatic lifestyle. This is a feature shared with Koreaceratops, Montanoceratops, Protoceratops and Bagaceratops.
(Horned face from Udan Sayr)Etymology
Udanoceratops is derived from the Mongolian "Udan-Sayr" (the locality where it was found) and the Greek "keras" (horn) and "-ops" (face).
The species epithet, tschizhovi, honors D.O. Tschizhov.
Discovery
The first fossils of Udanoceratops were discovered at "Udan-Sayr" in the Djadokhta Formation, Ömnögovi, Mongolia. The holotype (PIN 3907/11) is an almost complete skull, 60 centimeters (24 in) long.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Stage: Campanian
Age range: 85-71 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 4 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 200 Kg
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Dodson P (1996) "The Horned Dinosaurs: a Natural History".
• Kurzanov SM (1992) "A giant protoceratopsid from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia ". Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal. 0(3): 81-93. (in Russian)
• Ryan MJ, Chinnery-Allgeier BJ and Eberth DA (2010) "New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium".
• Benton MJ, Shishkin MA, Unwin DM and Kurochkin EN (2001) "The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia".
• Hailu Y and Dodson P (2004) "Basal Ceratopsia" in "The Dinosauria: Second Edition".
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L. "UDANOCERATOPS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
›. Web access: 07th Mar 2026.
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