| Coahuilaceratops Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 72 Ma |
|
|---|---|
| Skull of Coahuilaceratops | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ceratopsia |
| Family: | †Ceratopsidae |
| Subfamily: | †Chasmosaurinae |
| Genus: | †Coahuilaceratops Loewen et al., 2010 |
| Species: | †C. magnacuerna |
| Binomial name | |
| Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna Loewen et al., 2010 |
|
Coahuilaceratops (meaning "Coahuila horn face") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur. It is a chasmosaurine ceratopsian which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (late Campanian stage) in what is now southern Coahuila in northern Mexico. It is known from the holotype CPC 276, a partial skeleton of an adult individual which includes several skull elements. Another specimen, CPS 277, may represent a juvenile Coahuilaceratops. All specimens of Coahuilaceratops were collected from a single location in the Cerro del Pueblo Formation, around 72 million years ago.[1]
It was formally described in 2010, though it appeared as an informal designation (nomen nudum) as early as 2008.[2] Coahuilaceratops was named by Mark A. Loewen, Scott D. Sampson, Eric K. Lund, Andrew A. Farke, Martha C. Aguillón-Martínez, C.A. de Leon, R.A. Rodríguez-de la Rosa, Michael A. Getty and David A. Eberth in 2010 and the type species is Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna.[1] Although they are incomplete, Coahuilaceratops is thought to possess the largest horns of any dinosaur currently known. Its horns are estimated to have been up to 4 feet (1.2 m) long.[3]