| Ojoceratops Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma |
|
|---|---|
| Skull reconstruction | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ceratopsia |
| Family: | †Ceratopsidae |
| Subfamily: | †Chasmosaurinae |
| Tribe: | †Triceratopsini |
| Genus: | †Ojoceratops Sullivan & Lucas, 2010 |
| Species: | †O. fowleri Sullivan & Lucas, 2010 |
Ojoceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur which lived in what is now New Mexico. Ojoceratops fossils have been recovered from strata of the Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), dating to the late Cretaceous period (probably early Maasrichtian age, 70 million years ago). The type species is Ojoceratops fowleri. It is very similar to its close relative Triceratops, though it is from an earlier time period and has a more squared-off frill.[1] Nick Longrich, in 2011, noted that the squared-off frill is also found in some true Triceratops specimens and that Ojoceratops is probably a junior synonym of Triceratops,[2] while Holtz (2010) noted that it is probably ancestral to Triceratops and possibly synonymous with the contemporary Eotriceratops.[3] It is estimated to have reached about 9 metres (30 ft) in length.[3]