Ligmaceratops
Ligmaceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur that lived 145 to 135 million years ago during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous epoch in modern day Levantia and Sarpedon on what was then the supercontinent Sarpolevantia. It had four to six long parietal spikes extending from its neck frill, a smaller jugal horn on each of its cheeks, and a single horn protruding from its nose, which may have been up to 60 centimeters (2 feet) long and 15 centimeters (6 inches) wide. The function or functions of the horns and frills have been debated for many years, thought to have been used for self defence and possibly to settle questions of leadership in packs.
| Ligmaceratops | |
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| Holotype skeleton, Stretton Museum of Nature | |
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| Family: | Ligmaceratopsidae
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| Genus: | Ligmaceratops Jour & Leon, 1932
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| Type species | |
| †Ligmaceratops sugondesenus Jour & Leon, 1932
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Ligmaceratops was a relatively large dinosaur, reaching lengths of 5.5 meters (18 feet) and weighing nearly 3 tonnes. It stood about 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) tall. Ligmaceratops possessed four short legs and a bulky body. Its tail was rather short. The skull had a beak and shearing cheek teeth arranged in continuous dental batteries, suggesting that the animal sliced up plants. Like other ceratopsians, this dinosaur was likely a herd animal travelling in large groups, as suggested by bone beds discovered in the Greater Levantine Formation. Although Ligmaceratops remains come chiefly from central Levantia, they have also been discovered in Caphiria and even as far away as Takatta Loa and Faneria, suggesting the animal had considerable spread over Sarpolevantia.
Name
Ligmaceratops takes its genus name from the proto-Gothic *līmaz meaning "lime" as the holotype was discovered in Great Lime Quarry, Anglei. The name thus translates as "lime horn face" or "horned face from lime". The specific name L. sugondesenus is named in honour of two of the chief members of Jour & Leon's 1931 dig that uncovered the first Ligmaceratops, Ænglish paleontologist Carl Sugon and Urcean geologist J. Desenus.