| Ornatops | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Braincase of the holotype | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ornithopoda |
| Family: | †Hadrosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Saurolophinae |
| Genus: | †Ornatops McDonaldet al.,2021 |
| Species: | †O. incantatus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Ornatops incantatus McDonaldet al., 2021 | |
Ornatops (meaning "ornate face") is a genus ofbrachylophosaurinsaurolophinehadrosaur from theLate CretaceousMenefee Formation ofNew Mexico, United States. The genus contains a single species,Ornatops incantatus.[1]
Ornatops was originally discovered in 2018 within theMenefee Formation ofNew Mexico, United States. The fossil material was discovered by staff and volunteers from theWestern Science Center, Zuni Dinosaur Institute for Geosciences, and Southwest Paleontological Society. The specimen was described on the basis of a relatively complete and articulated specimenWSC 10058 in 2021. Theholotype consists of a well-preservedskull lacking the maxillae and lower jaws, twodorsal vertebrae, arib, ossifiedtendons, the rightscapula, most of the righthumerus,ulna, andradius, the second and third rightmetacarpals as well as an incompleteilium andischium, making it the most complete dinosaur from theMenefee Formation.
In 2021, three years after its initial discovery,Ornatops received a proper typespecies name. Its generic name,Ornatops, means "ornate face" fromLatinornatus and Greekops, in reference to the elaborate nasofrontal suture. The specific name,incantatus, means "enchanted"; it is a reference to New Mexico's moniker, the "Land of Enchantment".
Ornatops incantatus was agenus ofbrachylophosaurinhadrosaurid that existed in what is nowNew Mexico,United States approximately 78 million years ago. The exact proportions ofOrnatops remain undescribed as the paper naming and describing thegenus only examined thecranialskeleton. However, a future paper analysing thepost-cranial remains ofOrnatops was announced.
The expanded nasofrontal suture of theholotype skull, which bears a pair of bumps as a uniqueautapomorphy, suggests thatOrnatops in life had some form ofcrest, suggesting that it is likely related to and potentially intermediate betweenProbrachylophosaurus bergei andBrachylophosaurus canadensis. Because of this,Ornatops is the first crestedbrachylophosaurin found so far in southernLaramidia, which illustrates how diverse and distributed theclade was inNorth America during theCampanian.
McDonaldet al. placeOrnatops in the Saurolophinae, specifically in the tribe Brachylophosaurini. Their cladogram is shown below:[1]
