Archaeoceratops Dong & Azuma, 1997

Archaeoceratops Dong & Azuma, 1997 (1996 www.dinosauria.com) (Sino-Japanese silk road dinosaur expedition. China Ocean Press Beijing: 69 NcZ) "ancient horned-face"
AHR-kee-o-SER-a-tops (Gr. arkhaios "ancient" + Gr. kerat- (keras) "horn" + Gr. ops "face") (m) named to indicate "the primitive nature of the animal, which is the oldest known neoceratopsian." For a small (88-90 cm. (1 yd.) long), lightly built, bipedal ceratopsian, known from two incomplete skeletons and a relatively well-preserved skull, found in the Xinminbao Group, Gongpoquan Basin of the Mazongshan Area of Gansu Province, north central China. The relatively long skull (18.8 cm.) has no trace of a nasal or of frontal horn cores, and only has a very short and shallow "frill" formed along the back by the squamosals and parietals. The teeth are highly unusual in that they contrast between the lower and upper jaws: the dentary teeth (lower jaw) are similar to those of the ornithopods (low crown with small denticles), whereas the maxillary teeth (upper jaw) are larger and more like those of protoceratopsians (with a strong longitudinal ridge).
Type species: Archaeoceratops oshimai [oh-shee-MAH-ie] "for Oshima," named for "Mr. Oshima, the director of the Chunichi-Shinbun of Japan, who supported the Sino-Japan Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition." Neoceratopsia Archaeoceratopidae E. Cret. CAs. (China).

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