Proceratosaurus

theropod · middle jurassic · england · dinosaur

Ancient English hunter. Proceratosaurus lived in England during the Middle Jurassic period, making it one of the dinosaurs that roamed what would become the United Kingdom millions of years ago.

Only a skull remains. Scientists only have one specimen of this dinosaur, which is mostly a skull with a lower jaw and a small bone from its throat. This limited evidence makes it hard to know everything about how it lived.

Mistaken identity case. When Proceratosaurus was first found in 1910, scientists thought it was a type of Megalosaurus, a giant predator. It wasn't until 1926 that it got its own genus name.

Named for a false friendship. The name Proceratosaurus means it was thought to be closely related to Ceratosaurus, another theropod with a distinctive horn. Scientists later figured out this relationship was wrong, but the name stuck anyway.

Cranial crest confusion. Proceratosaurus had what looked like the start of a crest on its head, which made scientists think it was similar to Ceratosaurus. This resemblance turned out to be just a coincidence.