Dinosaurs A to Z
Ceratopsidae

Terminocavus sealeyi

Generic ceratopsian body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Terminocavus 6 m (19.7 ft) long
as long as 4 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ceratopsian body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Terminocavus
Length
6 m (19.7 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (75–74.6 Mya)
Place
North America · Mexico · New Mexico, USA
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Ceratopsidae Dinosauria Ornithischia Cerapoda Marginocephalia Big horned ceratopsians of the Late Cretaceous.

Terminocavus is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. The genus contains a single species, the type species Terminocavus sealeyi, known from a parietal and some other associated fragments. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Kirtland Formation of New Mexico in 1997, and was later described and named in a 2020 study. It was similar in anatomy to Pentaceratops and Anchiceratops, which it was closely related to, but had a distinctive heart-shaped upper frill with very narrow notch. It has been hypothesized to form an anagenetic series with several other chasmosaur species.

What we know

  • Named by Fowler & Freedman Fowler, 2020.
  • Fossils found in North America and Mexico.

What we guess

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