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Xenoceratops

Dinosaur profile

Xenoceratops

HerbivoreLate CretaceousCeratopsian

Pronunciation

Zee-noe-seh-rah-tops

Meaning

Alien horned face

Type

Ceratopsian

Length

6 meters long

Period

Late Cretaceous

Years

79.5 million years ago

Location

Canada

Diet

Herbivore

About Xenoceratops

Xenoceratops is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in what is now North America during the Late Cretaceous period, about 76 million years ago. It is known from a single fossil specimen consisting of a partial skull, which was discovered in Alberta, Canada.

Xenoceratops was a large herbivorous dinosaur, and like other ceratopsids, it had a distinctive frill on the back of its head and a beak-like structure on its snout for feeding on plants. It also had a large, curved horn on its nose, which may have been used for display or defense against predators. The size of the specimen suggests that Xenoceratops was about 6 meters (20 feet) long and 2 meters (7 feet) tall at the shoulder.

Overall, Xenoceratops was a primitive ceratopsid, and its anatomy suggests that it may have been closely related to the early ceratopsids that evolved in Asia during the Early Cretaceous. However, it also had some unique features, such as a wide and deep frill and a large nasal horn, that set it apart from other ceratopsids.

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