Dinosaurs A to Z
Ceratopsidae

Kosmoceratops kozmuh-SEɹUHTOPS

Generic ceratopsian body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Kosmoceratops 4.5 m (14.8 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ceratopsian body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Kosmoceratops
Length
4.5 m (14.8 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (76–75.9 Mya)
Place
North America · Utah, USA
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Ceratopsidae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Marginocephalia Big horned ceratopsians of the Late Cretaceous.

Kosmoceratops () is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America about 76–75.9 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in 2006 and 2007, including an adult skull and postcranial skeleton and partial subadults. In 2010, the adult was made the holotype of the new genus and species Kosmoceratops richardsoni; the generic name means “ornate horned face”, and the specific name honors Scott Richardson, who found the specimens. The find was part of a spate of ceratopsian discoveries in the early 21st century, and Kosmoceratops was considered significant due to its elaborate skull ornamentation.

Kosmoceratops had an estimated length of 4.5 m and a weight of 1.2 MT. As a ceratopsid, it would have been quadrupedal with a heavily constructed skeleton.

What we know

  • Named by Sampson et al., 2010.
  • Body length estimated at about 4.5 m.
  • Fossils found in North America and Utah, USA.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Kosmoceratops — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.