Protoceratops

dinosaur · ancient Asia · ceratopsian · evolution

Tiny horned dinosaur. Protoceratops was much smaller than its famous relatives like Triceratops, living in Mongolia and China during the Late Cretaceous period around 75 to 71 million years ago.

Two species discovered. Scientists found two types of Protoceratops: P. andrewsi (the smaller kind found in Mongolia in 1923) and P. hellenikorhinus (a larger species discovered in China in 2001).

Ancestor of giants. Scientists once thought Protoceratops was an ancestor to much larger dinosaurs like Triceratops and to armored dinosaurs called ankylosaurians, though they now understand the family tree differently.

Evolution in action. Some scientists believe that over many generations, populations of P. andrewsi may have slowly evolved into a different dinosaur called Bagaceratops rozhdestvenskyi.