Stellasaurus
| Stellasaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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|---|---|
| Parietal bar of the holotype specimen MOR 492 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Ceratopsia |
| Family: | †Ceratopsidae |
| Subfamily: | †Centrosaurinae |
| Clade: | †Eucentrosaura |
| Tribe: | †Pachyrhinosaurini |
| Genus: | †Stellasaurus Wilson, Ryan & Evans, 2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Stellasaurus ancellae Wilson, Ryan & Evans, 2020
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Stellasaurus (meaning "star lizard"; both in reference to the shape of its head ornamentation and as an homage to the song "Starman" by David Bowie) is a genus of centrosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in Montana during the Late Cretaceous. The type and only species is Stellasaurus ancellae. Its remains have been found in the late Campanian-aged Two Medicine Formation, the same geological unit which its relatives Rubeosaurus (now seen as a synonym of Styracosaurus), Einiosaurus, and Achelousaurus were discovered in.
Originally proposed as a distinct taxon in 1992, the specimens were later assigned to Rubeosaurus. In 2020, a re-evaluation questioned the referral and named it as a distinct species in a new genus. The describers saw it as a transitional form between Styracosaurus albertensis and Einiosaurus on a single evolutionary line that led to Achelousaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus.