| Titanoceratops Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 74.5–73.7 Ma |
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|---|---|
| Mounted holotype at the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ceratopsia |
| Family: | †Ceratopsidae |
| Subfamily: | †Chasmosaurinae |
| Tribe: | †Triceratopsini |
| Genus: | †Titanoceratops Longrich, 2011 |
| Species: | †T. ouranos |
| Binomial name | |
| Titanoceratops ouranos Longrich, 2011 |
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Titanoceratops (meaning "titanic horn face") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur. It was a giant chasmosaurine ceratopsian which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (late Campanian, 74.5–73.7 Ma) in what is now New Mexico, and the earliest known triceratopsin. It is known from the holotype OMNH 10165, a partial skeleton including partial skull and jaws. The holotype has been recovered from the upper Fruitland Formation or the lower Kirtland Formation. It was formally named by Nicholas R. Longrich in 2011 and the type species is Titanoceratops ouranos. Previously, its fossils were assigned to Pentaceratops.[1]
It is estimated to have reached about 9 metres (30 ft) in length, making it among the largest known ceratopsians.[2] Tom Holtz (2010) noted that it is extremely similar to its closely related contemporaries Eotriceratops and Ojoceratops, which may all be synonymous.[2]