Dinosaurs A to Z
Leptoceratopsidae

Prenoceratops pieganensis

"bent or prone-horned face"

Generic ceratopsian body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Prenoceratops 1.3 m (4.3 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ceratopsian body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Prenoceratops
Length
1.3 m (4.3 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (74.3 Mya)
Place
Canada · Alberta, Canada · Montana, USA
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Leptoceratopsidae
Prenoceratops reconstruction by Nobu Tamura
Reconstruction · Nobu Tamura (CC-BY)

Prenoceratops, (meaning ‘bent or prone-horned face’ and derived from Greek prene-/πρηνη- meaning ‘bent forwards’ or ‘prone’, cerat-/κερατ- meaning ‘horn’ and -ops/ωψ meaning ‘face’) is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. It was a relatively small dinosaur, reaching 1.3 m in length and 20 kg in body mass. Its fossils have been found in the upper Two Medicine Formation in the present-day U.S. state of Montana, in Campanian age rock layers that have been dated to 74.3 million years ago. Fossils were also found in the Oldman Formation in the modern day Canadian province of Alberta, dating to around 77 million years ago.

What we know

  • Named by Chinnery, 2004.
  • Body length estimated at about 1.3 m.
  • Fossils found in Canada and Alberta, Canada.

What we guess

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