Fun Wendiceratops Facts For Kids

Wendiceratops pinhornensis is a new species of the horned dinosaurs group from the Oldman Formation of southern Alberta during the Early Cretaceous period. It belonged to the Ceratopsidae family.

They are extremely popular for skull ornamentation and nasal ornamentation. The description was given by David C Evans, a Canadian paleontologist and a lead author of the PLoS one study along with Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in July 2015.

Amidst other recent discoveries, this new horned dinosaur has the most spectacular skull ornamentation. It belongs to the Ceratopsidae family and is closely related to the triceratops. All the members of this family are characterized by a nose horn.

The cranial anatomy of this species received a lot of attention from scientists and paleontologists. Did you know their remains are publicly displayed in The Royal Ontario Museum?

Wendiceratops Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Wendiceratops'?

The name Wendiceratops was given by David Evans(Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum and a lead author of PLoS one study) and Michael Ryan (curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History). It is pronounced as 'wendy-cera-ah-tops'.

What type of dinosaur was a Wendiceratops?

Wendiceratops pinhornensis is a centrosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur. All members of this family were herbivores and were characterized by horns and large frills.

In which geological period did the Wendiceratops roam the earth?

Wendieratops roamed the earth in the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period (Oldman formation). This period is the youngest subdivision of the cretaceous epoch. The fifth stage in the Late Cretaceous epoch is Campanian. During this epoch sea levels across the world were high.

When did the Wendiceratops become extinct?

This centrosaurine ceratopsid became extinct after the Late Cretaceous mass extinction also known as K-Pg extinction. The K-Pg extinction consisted of a series of unfortunate events like forest wildfires, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions which were triggered by the collision of earth with a meteor.

This resulted in extreme climatic changes resulting in the death of dinosaurs along with 80% of life on earth.

Where did Wendiceratops live?

The horned dinosaur was discovered in the Oldman Formation of Southern Alberta, Canada (North America). The formation has neutral-colored sand grains and was named after the Oldman River.

What was the Wendiceratops' habitat?

The fossils collected from the bonebed site indicate that they inhabited forest regions surrounded by water resources.

Who did Wendiceratops live with?

This is still a topic of debate. Despite finding the fossils of three adults and a juvenile together which indicate they have lived in groups or at least traveled in packs scientists are still arguing.

They are small herbivores dinosaurs that are at the risk of being hunted and are most likely to have lived in packs. It also coexisted with a group of Paronychodons and Albertaceratops.

How long did a Wendiceratops live?

This horned dinosaur lived between 79 and 78.7 million years ago. The precise lifespan of this species is unknown. The life span of dinosaurs, in general, can range between 20-80 years.

How did they reproduce?

Wendiceratops pinhornensis was oviparous and reproduced by laying eggs. The reproduction of dinosaurs is quite similar to that of modern-day reptiles. The male begins by depositing sperm. This would have resulted in a fertilized egg with embryos, followed by incubation and hatching. According to the references, most dinosaurs were quite attentive to their offspring.

Wendiceratops Fun Facts

What did Wendiceratops look like?

Based on the physical description given by Ryan and Evans, Wendiceratops pinhornensis is a sister species to Sinoceratops. It is well known for its skull bone ornamentation.

It had a bunch of thorn-like structures protruding along the edge of its broad frill. This frill was a unique, broad shield-shaped structure with its base attached to the rear side of its head.

Though complete, undamaged horns have not been found studies predict the nasal horn which is present on the nasal bone must have been around 4.5 in (8.5 cm) long. It also had brow horns right before the eye sockets.

The Wendiceratops skull ornamentation and nose horns evolution is too developed for an early member of this family. It had a beak similar to that of a parrot.

There were around 26 teeth positions which confirmed the presence of numerous teeth. The nose horn stands upright but is not too tall.

How many bones did a Wendiceratops have?

Almost 200 bones of several individuals (three adults and one juvenile) were collected from the monodominant bonebed site. The discovery of numerous well-kept fossils including the characteristic parietosquamosal frill, along with two shinbones, fragments of nasal horns, and one nasal bone has made this bonebed a fossil-rich site. This new species is by far the most well-represented early ceratopsid.

How did they communicate?

The particular communication mechanism of this species is not known. Dinosaurs in general communicate vocally and visually. The vocal communication includes sounds such as growls hoots and sometimes even coos. Visually they either utilize body movements or colors and feathers to convey messages and especially attracting mates.

How big were the Wendiceratops?

From the remains, it is estimated that these horned dinosaurs used to be 20 ft (6 m) long. It is two times bigger than the Triceratops.

How fast could a Wendiceratops move?

The speed of a dinosaur is calculated based on the hip height of the specimen and step measurements. The calculated speed is not an accurate value but only an estimation.

From the relation of this species with the triceratops (a relative) which is also a horned dinosaur, it can be concluded that they traveled at a medium speed. They were not extremely fast owing to their weight. They were not sluggish either as they moved on four legs and comparatively covered a longer distance without exerting themselves.

How much did a Wendiceratops weigh?

This dinosaur was quite heavy, weighing between 1.1-2.2 t (1000-2000 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

This species named after Wendy Sloboda does not have any distinct name for the male and female species. They were collectively known as Wendiceratops pinhornensis.

What would you call a baby Wendiceratops?

The baby dinosaur can either be called a chick or hatchling.

What did they eat?

It was a herbivore mainly feeding on plant matters. It was small and couldn't reach plants in elevated places or treetops. So it conveniently ate Low-lying plants. A major part of its diet also included thick foliage. The leaf-shaped teeth were put to use in chewing them.

How aggressive were they?

The level of aggressiveness that this species could exhibit is unpredictable. It might have been anything from mild to high.

During mating seasons, these horned dinosaurs are reported to have battled with other males of their own species in order to impress their female interests and eliminate competition. They had to deal with predators that were two to three times their size. This would have necessitated considerable aggressiveness.

Did you know...

This new horned dinosaur was the first to exhibit nose horn evolution. A study found that the nasal horn has gone through an evolution at least twice in centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaurs.

The type species Wendiceratops pinhornensis was named and described by David Evans and Michael Ryan.

There are no less than five ceratopids known from the Oldman River (Southern Alberta) following the discovery of Wendiceratops.

A Chinese ceratopsian, Sinoceratops, and Wendiceratops share a lot of skull characteristics.

The discovery of Wendiceratops has aided in documenting the high faunal turnover rates of ceratopsids.

It is the oldest dinosaur in its group with an erect medium-sized nose horn.

Apart from the bones of this dinosaur several other bones of a crocodile group and theropod dinosaurs group were found in the bonebed site.

Except for Wendiceratops most of the relatives had a spike on their nose.

Why are they called Wendiceratops?

Wendicretop is named by David Evans(Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum) and Ryan (curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History) to honor the fossil hunter Wendy Sloboda, and 'ceretops' means horned face, alluding to the horns they have.

Who discovered Wendiceratops?

The renowned fossil hunter Wendy Sloboda who had collected several important fossils in the previous three decades discovered Wendiceratops.

She discovered a fragment of a horned dinosaur's head while wandering through the 79 million-year-old limestone found in a bonebed site of Canada's Oldman Formation. This happened in 2010 and was only the beginning of what would become a bonebed comprising over 200 bones from various individuals.

The description was given by David C Evans, a Canadian paleontologist, and Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in July 2015.

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 Caseosaurus facts and Micropachycephalosaurus facts for kids.

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

Image one by David C. Evans, Michael J. Ryan