JULY 12,
2019
Many
dinosaur species are known from scant remains, with some estimates suggesting
75% are known from five or fewer individuals. Auroraceratops rugosus was
typical in this regard when it was named in 2005 based upon a single skull from
the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. But that is no longer the case.
In the
intervening years, scientists have recovered fossils from more than 80
individual Auroraceratops, bringing this small-bodied plant-eater into the
ranks of the most completely known dinosaurs. It is now one of the few very early horned
dinosaurs known from complete skeletons. In a collection of articles appearing
as Memoir 18 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology this week,
researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Gansu Agricultural University,
and other institutions describe the anatomy, age, preservation, and evolution
of this large collection of Auroraceratops.
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