Werndiceratops Research Paper
This unique species within the horned dinosaur group is given its name by it’s discoverer Wendy Sloboda. Related to Triceratops, it has a body similar to the extant rhinoceros. Wendiceratops pinhornensis was a quadruped. supported by its leaf-shaped teeth and cropping beak it is believed to be a herbivore. It was approximately 6 meters long and weighed over a ton. Wendiceratops dates back 79 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. One of its distinctive features is its skull ornamentation. It has a decorated neck frill with forward protruding hook-like horns along the margin of its frill. This is unusual to early members of the horned dinosaur family. The significance of Wendiceratops lies in its nasal horn. Wendiceratops is the
earliest documented dinosaur with a nasal horn within Ceratopsia. This is unprecedented because the earliest horned dinosaurs did not have nasal horns. This implies the idea of convergence of nasal horns between Centrosaurinae and Chasmosaurinae. Therefore, Wendiceratops contributes a great deal to the evolutionary pathway of horned dinosaurs, as its discovery makes it the earliest horned dinosaur with a nasal horn.
earliest documented dinosaur with a nasal horn within Ceratopsia. This is unprecedented because the earliest horned dinosaurs did not have nasal horns. This implies the idea of convergence of nasal horns between Centrosaurinae and Chasmosaurinae. Therefore, Wendiceratops contributes a great deal to the evolutionary pathway of horned dinosaurs, as its discovery makes it the earliest horned dinosaur with a nasal horn.