CERATOPSINAE
CLASSIFICATION
Animalia: Vertebrata: Tetrapoda: Sauropsida: Archosauromorpha:
Ornithodira: Dinosauria: Ornithischia: Ceratopsia: Coronosauria
CLADOGRAM:
--Ceratopsinae == {Ceratops > Centrosaurus} =Ceratopinae =Chasmosaurinae ?=Agathauminae
| INCERTAE SEDIS:
| unnamed form -- U.S.A.
| Polyonax
| Ugrosaurus
|--Chasmosaurini ?=Ceratopsini ?=Ceratopini
| | INCERTAE SEDIS:
| | ?Ceratops
| |--Chasmosaurus
| `--Pentaceratops
`--+--Anchiceratops
`--+--Arrhinoceratops
`--+--Torosaurus
`--+--Diceratops
`--Triceratops
ALTERNATE CLADOGRAM:
see Coronosauria
ESSAY
| PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:Unlike their sister group, the centrosaurines, ceratopsines (a.k.a. chasmosaurines), placed more emphasis on brow horns than the nasal horn, to the point that some barely had a nasal horn at all, hence names like Arrhinoceratops (“without nose-horn face”) and Diceratops (“two-horned face”). Their neck frills were longer than those of centrosaurines, except in the lineage leading to Triceratops, wherein they became short and completely solid, with no parietal fenestrae. A N AME PROBLEM:There has been some disagreement over the name of this group and all other groups named after the genus Ceratops. For years they have been known as Ceratopsidae, Ceratopsia, etc. Some have pointed out that this is not correct Greek, and that the “s” should be dropped, hence Ceratopidae, Ceratopia. But the names with “s” have become deeply entrenched in dinosaur terminology, and are used on this site. |
