Fun Liaoceratops Facts For Kids

More than 700 Extinct archosaurs are within the clade Dinosauria which highlight the early evolution of dinosaurs. While dinosaurs lived between 230-35 million years ago, birds are speculated to share a common ancestor with non-avian dinosaurs.

A Liaoceratops is yet another dinosaur from the clade Dinosauria, order Ornithischia, suborder Ceratopsia, and infraorder Neoceratopsia with type species Liaoceratops yanzigouensis.

The ceratopsian dinosaur was discovered in the famous Liaoning province in China, living in the Early Cretaceous.

It was a small ceratopsian dinosaur with a size much smaller than the later relatives but highlights the early evolution of ceratopsians. Considered familiar to the Triceratops in North America, ceratopsian dinosaurs split into two lineage lines.

These were the neoceratopsians, horned and frilled dinosaurs with the Liaocerapots as its basal member, and Psittacosauridae, parrot-beaked dinosaurs. The first specimens were discovered and described by a team of Chinese and American scientists including Xu Xing, Peter Makovicky, Wang Xiaolin, Mark Norell, and You Hailu in 2002.

Also, one of the holotype specimens, a fossil of the complete skull, was collected in the Yixian Formation in China, dating back to Barremian (a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous Age).

If the uniqueness of the Liaoceratops makes you interested to read more about similar species, you can read about the Zuniceratops and the Incisivosaurus. 

Liaoceratops Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Liaoceratops'?

'Liaoceratops' is pronounced as 'lyow-serra-tops'. The generic name of the ceratopsian dinosaur is derived from the name of the famous Liaoning province and the Greek term 'keras' referring to the 'horns'.

What type of dinosaur was a Liaoceratops?

The Liaoceratops is the basal member of ceratopsian dinosaurs or horned and frilled form of dinosaurs. It is quite similiar to the Triceratops in North America. It belongs to the clade Dinosauria, order Ornithischia, suborder Ceratopsia, and infraorder Neoceratopsia. This dinosaur is also speculated to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids.

In which geological period did the Liaoceratops roam the earth?

The Liaoceratops was discovered and described in 2002 by a team of American and Chinese scientists including Xu Xing, Peter Makovicky, Wang Xiaolin, Mark Norell, and You Hailu but lived in the Early Cretaceous period, 126 million years ago.

When did the Liaoceratops become extinct?

While ceratopsians documented in China are speculated to have become extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period, around 65 million years ago, no reports reflect when the Liaoceratops did face extinction in nature.

Where did Liaoceratops live?

Several specimens of fossils of Liaoceratops were discovered in the Liaoning province of China. Also, the holotype (a complete skull) dating back to the subdivision of the Cretaceous period was found in the Yixian Formation in China, while several other fossils of skulls have been recorded by Makovicky, highlighting the early evolution of dinosaurs.

Fossils found speculate that this dinosaur lived in and inhabited China. Further, the type species, Liaoceratops yanzigouensis, has the epithet yanzigouensis referring to the town Yanzigou, speculating its origin.

What was the Liaoceratops's habitat?

Ceratopsian dinosaurs with horns and the frill are speculated to have lived in dry forest and areas with plentiful vegetation. The basal member of ceratopsian dinosaurs also resided in the dry forests of China, primarily in the Yixian Formation, Liaoning province.

Who did the Liaoceratops live with?

While many herbivore dinosaurs were speculated to live in groups, meat-eaters often led a solitary life or lived in pairs. Juvenile dinosaurs are considered social animals.

Ceratopsians, in particular, are believed to have lived alone as no fossisl of the skulls found in the Yixian Formation (Liaoning province, China) are in pairs or groups. Whether the Liaoceratops lived in pairs, in groups or in solitary remains a mystery.

How long did the Liaoceratops live?

Ceratopsians are speculated to have lived for 70-80 years in nature. On the other hand, Ceratopsia dinosaurs are split into two lineage lines. These lines are the Neoceratopsians, horned and frilled dinosaurs and the Psittacosauridae which are small parrot-beaked dinosaurs. The lifespan of the basal member of Neoceratopsians is unrecorded.

How did they reproduce?

The early evolution of this dinosaur dates back to the Middle-Late Triassic epochs. These dinosaurs laid amniotic eggs in nests.

This dinosaur built nests in cups, domes, burrows, mounds, bed scrapes, and plates. While the female laid the eggs, the male dinosaur was primarily known to incubate the eggs.

The females also grew a medullary bone rich in calcium to make eggshells while laying the eggs. The evidence of this bone helped paleontologists to determine the sex of the fossil dinosaur.

Documentaries recorded by the team of scientists, primarily Xu Xing, Peter Makovicky, Wang Xiaolin, Mark Norell, and You Hailu do not specify the reproductive behavior of the Liaoceratops dinosaur. It is specified to be an early relative of horned ceratopsids.

Liaoceratops Fun Facts

What did Liaoceratops look like?

Unlike ceratopsians, the Liaoceratops had only a neck frill, while ceratopsians were horned and frilled dinosaurs. This dinosaur is recorded to have had a mixture of subtle features, primarily associated with one or another dinosaur.

The Liaoceratops possessed only jugal horns and lacked orbital horns and these features aided Xu Xing, Peter Makovicky, Wang Xiaolin, Mark Norell, and You Hailu to understand the major split in the evolution of its suborder Ceratopsia.

The appearance and size of the Liaoceratops were recorded according to the features of the holotype of the complete skull and other fossils found in the Liaoning province of China.

Also, a skull of the juvenile and another skull of even a younger dinosaur that lacked a skull roof were used to learn about this dinosaur. The missing skull roof was justified as an act of a predator opening the braincase.

How many bones did a Liaoceratops have?

These dinosaurs were recorded to have a huge number of bones supporting their massive body size. While the holotype of Triceratops is recorded to have 985 bones in total, the number of bones in the Liaoceratops is not known.

How did they communicate?

With the evolution of time, this dinosaur inherited both visual and vocal methods of communication. It communicated by clapping its jaws together, hissing, rubbing scales together, grinding mandibles against the upper jaws, or using various environmental materials like splashing the water.

The Liaoceratops living in the Early Cretaceous period are speculated to have adopted similar techniques to communicate with each other, however no reports have confirmed this.

How big were the Liaoceratops?

The Liaoceratops height ranges from 1 ft (30 cm) while its length varies up to 3 ft (91 cm). It is 30 times smaller than an Australotitan cooperensis, one of the largest dinosaurs living in the Middle Cretaceous age. While the holotype of the Liaoceratops was found in China, the holotype of the Australotitan cooperensis is reported in Australia.

How fast could a Liaoceratops move?

While some dinosaurs walked on four legs, others had the ability to walk on two legs. Also, some dinosaurs are speculated to have been able to fly with juvenile dinosaurs being capable of flying right after their birth.

Some dinosaurs often inhabit semi-aquatic habitats but the Liaoceratops were found in terrestrial habitats, moving using their four legs. While closely related dinosaurs, such as the Triceratops ran at a speed ranging between 12-20 mph (20-32 kph), the speed of the Liaoceratops is unrecorded.

How much did a Liaoceratops weigh?

The Liaoceratops weight ranges up to 7 lb (3 kg). The weight of this dinosaur with jugal horns and a frill has a negligible weight compared to the heaviest dinosaur recorded.

What were the male and female names of the species?

Male and female dinosaurs do not have specific names reflecting the sex of these dinosaurs. However, often, the female dinosaur is known as saura, and the male can be called a saurus.

What would you call a baby Liaoceratops?

A baby dinosaur is often called a chick or hatchling while a baby Liaoceratops does not have any specific names.

What did they eat?

The Liaoceratops is an herbivore primarily feeding upon plants like ginkgo, horsetail, and conifer. While this dinosaur has premaxillary teeth, it is speculated that it does not need stronger teeth as its diet primarily comprises plants.

How aggressive were they?

This herbivore species of dinosaurs are not recorded to possess an aggressive temperament.

Did you know...

The Liaoceratops lived between 125.4-122.4 million years ago. It is closely related to the Triceratops as the discovery of Liaoceratops bought an evolution within its suborder Ceratopsia. It is speculated to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids.

Why are they called Liaoceratops?

The generic name of Liaoceratops originated from Liaoning and the Greek term 'keras' meaning 'horn'. It basically means 'Liaoning horned face'. Also, the epithet Yanzigouensis from the name of its type species, Liaoceratops yanzigouensis, refers to the town Yanzigou.

Who discovered the Liaoceratops?

The holotype (a specimen of the skull) of the Liaoceratops from the clade Dinosauria was discovered in the Yixian Formation (Liaoning province) of China by Xu Xing, Peter Makovicky, Wang Xiaolin, Mark Norell, and You Hailu in 2002. The Liaoning province is a famous province of China. Also, several fossils have been excavated from the Liaoning province.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Bagaceratops facts, or Vagaceratops facts for kids.

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

Main image by Nobu Tamura

*We've been unable to source an image of Liaceratops and have used an image of an Archaeoceratops instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Liaceratops, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.