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A gigantic skull and skeleton of the horned dinosaurPentaceratops sternbergi from New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 July 2015

Thomas M. Lehman*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock 79409

Abstract

An exceptionally large skeleton ofPentaceratops sternbergi (Ornithischia:Ceratopsia) provides for the first time an accurate impression of the body proportions in this horned dinosaur. This is the only known specimen with a skull associated with most of the postcranial skeleton. The restored skull is nearly three meters in length and is thus the largest of any ceratopsian and the largest skull thus far known in any terrestrial vertebrate. The elongate rostrum, elaborate premaxillary structure, and complex frontal and cornual sinuses demonstrate a high level of intraspecific variability in these features. Such features are therefore likely not useful in providing species-level discrimination in other chasmosaurines. The function of the intricate chasmosaurine premaxillary narial structures is probably associated with an advanced level of herbivory.

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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