[D] Nedoceratops hatcheri [sG] [T]
Describer
Ukrainsky, 2007 vide Farke, 2011
Time
Cretaceous Late Maastrichtian
Classification
Ornithischia Genasauria Cerapoda Marginocephalia Ceratopia Neoceratopia Ceratopidae Chasmosaurinae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Lance Formation, of Niobrara County, Wyoming, US
Info
Nedoceratops hatcheri (Ukrainsky, 2007 vide Farke, 2011) > Diceratops hatcheri (Lull vide Hatcher, 1905) > Diceratus hatcheri (Mateus,2008 )
Holotype
USNM 2412, a nearly complete cranium.
Type Horizon and Locality
Lance Formation (late Maastrichtian) of Niobrara County, Wyoming, USA.
Diagnosis
Chasmosaurine ceratopsid with the following autapomorphies: nasal horncore nearly completely undifferentiated from the nasal bone; greater portion of procurved postorbital horncores forms a 90 degree angle with tooth row; and parietal fenestrae extremely small (occupying less than five percent of the total surface area of the parietal).
Nedoceratops hatcheri is distinguished from Triceratops spp. in the the position of the ventral extremity of the squamosal well above the alveolar process of the maxilla, and in the presence of parietal fenestrae, which are lacking in all Triceratops species.
Nedoceratops hatcheri is distinguished from Torosaurus latus in squamosal shape (particularly the reduced jugal notch and lack of a thickened medial margin in N. hatcheri), and that N. hatcheri has extremely reduced parietal fenestrae and a low number of episquamosals in N. hatcheri compared to T. latus.
Scannella JB, Horner JR (2011) ‘Nedoceratops’: An Example of a Transitional Morphology. PLoS ONE 6(12): e28705. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028705
Abstract
Background
The holotype and only specimen of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur ‘Nedoceratops hatcheri’ has been the source of considerable taxonomic debate since its initial description. At times it has been referred to its own genus while at others it has been considered synonymous with the contemporaneous chasmosaurine Triceratops. Most recently, the debate has focused on whether the specimen represents an intermediate ontogenetic stage between typical young adult Triceratops and the proposed mature morphology, which was previously considered to represent a distinct genus, ‘Torosaurus’.
Methodology/Principal Findings
The only specimen of ‘Nedoceratops hatcheri’ was examined and the proposed diagnostic features of this taxon were compared with other chasmosaurine ceratopsids. Every suggested autapomorphy of ‘Nedoceratops’ is found in specimens of Triceratops. In this study, Triceratops includes the adult ‘Torosaurus’ morphology. The small parietal fenestra and elongate squamosals of Nedoceratops are consistent with a transition from a short, solid parietalsquamosal frill to an expanded, fenestrated condition. Objections to this hypothesis regarding the number of epiossifications of the frill and alternations of bone surface texture were explored through a combination of comparative osteology and osteohistology. The synonymy of the three taxa was further supported by these investigations.
Conclusions/Significance
The Triceratops, ‘Torosaurus’, and ‘Nedoceratops’ morphologies represent ontogenetic variation within a single genus of chasmosaurine: Triceratops. This study highlights how interpretations of dinosaur paleobiology, biodiversity, and systematics may be affected by ascribing ontogenetic and other intraspecific variation a taxonomic significance.