Fun Albertaceratops Facts For Kids

The Albertaceratops was a horned and Centrosaurine dinosaur. It was alive during the middle Campanian age of the upper or late Cretaceous period.

It is thought to have gone extinct about 83.5 million years ago. The place where it was discovered was the Oldman formation in the province of Alberta, Canada.

This is where its generic name comes from. The specific name 'nesmoi' comes from a man by the name of Cecil Nesmo, who was a rancher that helped fossil hunters.

The Albertaceratops had a herbivorous diet and fed on plant material and vegetation. It was peculiar in its appearance as it had hooks coming out of the frill and long brow horns coming out of its skull.

Since brown horns are shorter on a Centrosaurine, some think it to be a Ceratopsian as well. It was a quadrupedal dinosaur and may have used its bony projections in fights for mating rights and territorial displays.

For more relatable content, check out these Austroraptor facts and Metriorhynchus facts for kids.

Albertaceratops Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Albertaceratops'?

Albertaceratops is pronounced as 'Al-ber-tah-seh-rah-tops'.

What type of dinosaur was an Albertaceratops?

The Albertaceratops was a Centrosaurine and a horned dinosaur.

In which geological period did the Albertaceratops roam the Earth?

The Albertaceratops walked the Earth during the upper or late Cretaceous period, in the middle Campanian stage.

When did the Albertaceratops become extinct?

The Albertaceratops went extinct approximately 83.5 million years ago.

Where did an Albertaceratops live?

The Albertaceratops dinosaur was discovered in the Oldman formation in the province of Alberta, Canada. Hence, the Albertaceratops lived on lands today known as Canada, in North America.

What was an Albertaceratops's habitat?

The Albertaceratops lived in terrestrial habitats and on mountain ridges.

Who did an Albertaceratops live with?

The degree of sociality observed by the Albertaceratops genus and species is unknown. These late Cretaceous dinosaurs may have lived in herds, in a family, or in solitude.

How long did an Albertaceratops live?

These Albertaceratops dinosaurs, being herbivorous, probably lived at the upper end of the 30-100 year age range.

How did they reproduce?

Albertaceratops dinosaurs reproduced by mating and laying eggs.

Albertaceratops Fun Facts

What did an Albertaceratops look like?

The Albertaceratops was an unusual-looking dinosaur. It combined the Centrosaurine skull with long brow horns.

Centrosaurines are usually known to have short brow horns. Over the nose of the Albertaceratops was a ridge that was bony and at the frill, there were two large hooks that projected outwards and curved to the sides of the face.

Because the Albertaceratops dinosaur had horns unlike other Centrosaurines, it is thought by some to be a basal Centrosaurine and a Ceratopsian. Late members of this group were known to develop progressively smaller brow horns. The Albertaceratops did not have any nasal horns but had a bony growth coming out the top of the snout instead.

This bony growth is similar to that of the Pachyrhinosaurus. The Albertaceratops size was overall bulky and this dinosaur was also quadrupedal.

How many bones did an Albertaceratops have?

The exact number of bones that an Albertaceratops possessed is not known.

How did they communicate?

These Albertaceratops dinosaurs communicated via audible and visual cues, like other dinosaurs. There may have been territorial fights and mating and aggression displays and sounds like bellows and grunts. The bony skull, horns, and hooks may have been utilized during any fights.

How big was an Albertaceratops?

The Albertaceratops was 19-23 ft (5.8-7 m) in length which makes it three to four times smaller than the Ampelosaurus.

How fast could an Albertaceratops move?

It is not known how fast these horned Albertaceratops dinosaurs were. Being herbivores, they were slower than carnivores.

How much did an Albertaceratops weigh?

The Albertaceratops' weight was 7,700 lb (3,492.7 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

Female and male Albertaceratops dinosaurs did not have specific names.

What would you call a baby Albertaceratops?

A baby Albertaceratops dinosaur, since it would come of an egg, would be called a hatchling or a nestling.

What did they eat?

Albertaceratops dinosaurs had a herbivorous diet and ate plant materials and vegetation.

How aggressive were they?

It is not known to what degree Albertaceratops dinosaurs were aggressive but they had hooks and horns on the head and the skull which were probably utilized for aggressive mating and territorial displays.

Did you know...

Michael J. Ryan was the man responsible for naming and describing the Albertaceratops genus and species. The generic name meaning comes from the Alberta province in Canada which is where Albertaceratops skeletal remains were found.

The specific name of Albertaceratops nesmoi, 'nesmoi,' comes from Cecil Nesmo.

Cecil Nesmo was a rancher that lived in Manyberries, Alberta, a town that had less than 100 people and was situated 44.1 mi (71 km) south of the city of Medicine Hat. Cecil Nesmo is honored because of his efforts in helping fossil hunters.

‬Additional remains from Montana once thought to belong to Albertaceratops dinosaurs have now been named the Medusaceratops, a dinosaur that lived during the same time period.

Another one of the interesting Albertaceratops facts is that the meaning of its name is 'Alberta horned face'.

A complete skeleton of an Albertaceratops has not been found.

The family Ceratopsidae also consists of prominent dinosaurs like the Centrosaurus, the Triceratops, and the Styracosaurus.

The close relative Medusaceratops was initially thought to belong to the Chasmosaurine subfamily. The Chasmosaurinae dinosaur subfamily was native to the Laramidia landmass in North America. When found, the Medusaceratops was thought to be the oldest Chasmosaurine but was later replaced by the actual Chasmosaurine, Judiceratops. The Medusaceratops was reclassified in paleontology as a Centrosaurine.

The family Centrosaurinae consists of Ceratopid dinosaurs, which are quadrupedal and big Ornithischians. Fossil remains of this family are mostly native to the ancient landmass of Laramidia, which is today Montana, Alberta, and Alaska.

There have been some dinosaurs that were recovered from Utah and even China. Common features of these Centrosaurine dinosaurs include a big nasal horn, supratemporal horns that are short, and an ornamented frill that projects from behind the skull.

Except for the Centrosaurus apertus, all Centrosaurines have spiky ornaments that go up to the middle of the skull.

It is also shown by the morphometric analysis that Centrosaurines differ from other Ceratopsians since they have differently-shaped frills, snouts, and skulls. Some evidence also points to the fact that males of various Centrosaurine species had a long adolescent period in their lives and sexual ornamentation features did not appear until they became adults.

How wide was the average Albertaceratops?

The exact width of the Albertacerarops body is not known, but it is thought to have been a bulky and large dinosaur, especially in the middle.

What do scientists assume about the Albertaceratops?

The Albertaceratops skull and some postcranial fragments were put through a phylogenetic analysis by Michael J. Ryan, the describer of the species. This late Cretaceous period dinosaur was found to be a basal Centrosaurine. It's thought that Albertaceratops is a distant ancestor of 

Some additional remains were found in a bonebed in the same Judith River formation in Montana but were determined to belong to a different Centrosaurine, the Medusaceratops.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other dinosaurs from our Xenotarsosaurus interesting facts and Yinlong fun facts for kids pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Albertaceratops coloring pages.

Second image by Nobu Tamura.