Liaoceratops
| Liaoceratops Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
| |
|---|---|
| Skull at the Baoding Natural History Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ceratopsia |
| Clade: | †Neoceratopsia |
| Genus: | †Liaoceratops Xu et al., 2002 |
| Type species | |
| Liaoceratops yanzigouensis Xu et al., 2002
| |
Liaoceratops, meaning "Liaoning horned face", is a ceratopsian dinosaur believed to be an early relative of the horned ceratopsids. It lived in the Early Cretaceous, 126 million years ago. It was discovered in China by a team of American and Chinese scientists. Liaoceratops was much smaller than its later relatives, but offers a glimpse into the early evolution of this group of dinosaurs.