Fun Bagaceratops Facts For Kids
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Do you find dinosaurs interesting? Then here we have all the information on the Bagaceratops.
Bagaceratops was a species of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period. Although emerging late, the Bagaceratops bore some features that characterized early ceratopsians.
Quite a lot of fossils of the Bagaceratops have been found to date, but owing to the nature of fossils, like most of them is the skull of the Bagaceratops, not much content is available on their entire livelihood. However, we know some specific features, like they had ten grinding teeth on each jaw of their beak-like mouth.
They used to grab parts of plants to feed on with these mouths and teeth as the Bagaceratops diet included only plants, for they were herbivores. They fed on plants, like conifers, cycads, and ferns.
Read on to know more about the Bagaceratops and if you like this article, then also check out Paranthodon and Kileskus.
Bagaceratops Interesting Facts
How do you pronounce 'Bagaceratops'?
The phonetic pronunciation of 'Bagaceratops' is 'Bag-ah-sair-uh-tops'.
What type of dinosaur was a Bagaceratops?
Bagaceratops is a species of ceratopsian dinosaur that belongs to the family Protoceratopsidae of dinosaurs.
In which geological period did the Bagaceratops roam the earth?
The Bagaceratops roamed the earth around 83.6 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Although emerging late in the age of dinosaurs, many of the features of this species had characterized early ceratopsians that lived in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous period.
When did the Bagaceratops become extinct?
Due to a lack of data, the precise time when Bagaceratops became extinct is not known. However, they emerged around 83.6 million years ago.
This was the late Cretaceous period, and the incident that marked its end and the end of the Mesozoic era was the mass extinction of many plants and animals about 66 million years ago. The extinction of Bagaceratops may be related to that event. Hence, it's assumed that Bagaceratops went extinct around 66 million years ago.
Where did the Bagaceratops live?
Bagaceratops specimens that have been found now were discovered at the Djadochta Formation and the Barun Goyot Formation, which are located in the Gobi Desert Basin at the Ömnögovi Province of Mongolia. Hence, it's assumed that the Bagaceratops lived in the Asian country of Mongolia in and around the Gobi desert.
What was a Bagaceratops' habitat?
The general climate of the Cretaceous period was quite warm that even created many shallow inland seas. However, during the late Cretaceous period, when the Cenozoic era was approaching, the climate started drying and cooling down a little. However, Bagaceratops' lived in the desert, so they were probably still living in a hot climate.
Who did the Bagaceratops live with?
Whether Bagaceratops were solitary or lived in groups is not known. However, it's believed that ceratopsian dinosaurs, in general, were rather solitary in all ages of their lives. They didn't have to defend their territories a lot, and owing to their herbivorous feeding habits, they didn't require staying in groups to catch prey.
How long did a Bagaceratops live?
The exact lifespan of the Bagaceratops or of the ceratopsian dinosaurs, in general, is not known. Ceratopsian, like the lifespan of a Psittacosaurus, was only about 10-11 years, whereas Ceratopsian, like the Triceratops, had a long lifespan. Hence, it's quite impossible to assume the lifespan of the Bagaceratops.
How did they reproduce?
Even though many bones of the Bagaceratops have been found, they still lived about 83.6 million years ago. That's why even with all the large amount of research done on the gathered fossils, not much content is available on their reproduction.
The only thing that is known is that the Bagaceratops were oviparous in nature. Oviparous animals, like amphibians, reptiles, fish, or birds, give birth to their young by laying eggs. Bagaceratops also gave birth to their juveniles by laying eggs.
Bagaceratops Fun Facts
What did a Bagaceratops look like?
Bagaceratops had similar characteristics as the primitive ceratopsians. They had a small body size but were slightly robust. The most fossils of these dinosaurs that have been found to date are of its skull.
Hence, the most information that scientists have been able to gather is on the features of their head, like mouth, teeth, snout, and more. They had a head similar to Protoceratops, but it was rather triangular in shape.
They didn't have any brow horns but had one small horn on the snout at the front of their faces. They had a parrot-like beak with ten grinding teeth on each jaw and a small frill. Their forelimbs were shorter than hindlimbs.
How many bones did a Bagaceratops have?
Most fossils of the Bagaceratops that have been found till now are of the skull of these dinosaurs. The number of fossils beyond that body part that have been found is quite less. Hence, it's hard to know how many bones these ceratopsians had. All dinosaurs, in general, had about 200 bones in their body.
How did they communicate?
The Bagaceratops probably communicated both vocally and visually. Dinosaurs, in general, used to bellow and grunt at each other to communicate. They sometimes showed aggression during courtship behavior when they were fighting against each other.
How big was the Bagaceratops?
An adult Bagaceratops grew up to about 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, and Bagaceratops height was about 0.5 m (1.6 ft) on average. They are about 8-9 times smaller in length and about six times smaller in terms of height than Triceratops.
Triceratops was about 25.9-29.5 ft (7.9-9 m) in length and about 9.5-9.8 ft (2.9-3 m) in height.
How fast could a Bagaceratops move?
Bagaceratops were quadrupeds, and their forelimbs were shorter than their hindlimbs. Even though they had a small body size, it can be assumed that this did not help with their running or moving speed.
However, Ceratopsians, like Stegosaurus, could run at a speed of about 7 mph (11.3 kph), while Triceratops could run at a speed of about 20 mph (32.2 kph). Hence, Bagaceratops could probably run at somewhere close to these speeds.
How much did a Bagaceratops weigh?
An adult Bagaceratops weighed around 50 lb (22.7 kg) on average.
What were the male and female names of the species?
Males and females had no specific names.
What would you call a baby Bagaceratops?
A baby Bagaceratops was called a hatchling, nestling, or juvenile.
What did they eat?
Similar to any other ceratopsian, the diet of the Bagaceratops was also herbivorous in nature. The dominant plants of their era were conifers, cycads, and ferns. It's assumed that the diet of the Bagaceratops included these plants the most. They probably used to feed on them by grabbing the parts of these plants with their beak-like mouths.
How aggressive were they?
Nothing has been discovered as of yet on the Bagaceratops that will tell us if they were aggressive or not. However, most herbivorous dinosaurs were aggressive, so we can assume the same character in Bagaceratops.
Did you know...
To this day, five complete, 20 partial fossils of the skull and a few more fossils from other body parts of the Bagaceratops have been found. All these specimens are of these dinosaurs of various ages.
The literal meaning of Bagaceratops is 'small horned face. The Bagaceratops meaning, 'small horned face is actually translated from the Mongolian language.
The scientific name of the Bagaceratops is Bagaceratops rozhdestvenskyi. The second part of this name, 'rozhdestvenskyi', was given in honor of the renowned Russian paleontologist Anatoly Konstantinovich Rozhdestvensky.
Who discovered Bagaceratops?
The first fossils of the Bagaceratops were found by esteemed scientists Halszka Osmólska and Teresa Maryanska. It was found in an expedition carried out by the combined efforts of Polish and Mongolian scientists in the Gobi desert.
Were Bagaceratops herbivores?
Yes, similar to all other ceratopsians, Bagaceratops were herbivorous in nature as well.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Mercuriceratops facts, or Vagaceratops facts.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable swimming dinosaur coloring pages.
The main image is by PaleoNeolitic.
The second image is by Nobu Tamura.
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication, Postgraduate Diploma in Sports Management
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Sonali has a Bachelor's degree in English literature from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and is currently pursuing a Master's in English and Communication from Christ University. With considerable experience in writing about lifestyle topics, including travel and health, she has a passion for Japanese culture, especially fashion, and anime, and has written on the subject before. Sonali has event managed a creative-writing festival and coordinated a student magazine at her university. Her favorite authors are Toni Morrison and Anita Desai.
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