Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
228 / Mesozoic
Kosmoceratops
Kosmoceratops richardsoni
Fifteen horn-like ornaments across the nose, brows and broad frill formed a folded crown around the skull.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 76.4–75.5 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Island coastal plain · Utah, USA
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Kosmoceratops?
Kosmoceratops (Kosmoceratops richardsoni) was an extinct organism known from About 76.4–75.5 million years ago, with a range in Island coastal plain · Utah, USA.
Life and ecology
Kosmoceratops lived in southern Laramidia. Forward-curved brow horns and hooked frill ornaments probably served close-range visual display.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Kosmoceratops disappear?
Changing coastlines, climate and north–south faunal exchange accompanied rapid ceratopsian turnover; these do not demonstrate why this local branch disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Kosmoceratops?
Skulls and skeletons from Grand Staircase–Escalante preserve the ornamentation and its dated ecological setting.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS