Rubeosaurus ovatus
By José Carlos Cortés on @ryuukibart
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Name: Rubeosaurus ovatus
Name Meaning: Bramble Reptile
First Described: 2010
Described By: McDonald & Horner
Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia, Neoceratopsia, Coronosauria, Ceratopsoidea, Ceratopsidae, Centrosaurinae, Centrosaurini
Rubeosaurus, once thought to be a species of Styracosaurus, and indeed, may be the direct descendant of that more famous genus. At any rate, Rubeosaurus is fairly distinct due to its exceptionally large nose horn, which probably can only be explained thanks to sexual selection. I mean seriously, how extra is this:
By Lukas Panzarin, CC BY 2.5
Rubeosaurus is known from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana, dating back to the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous, approximately 74.6 million years ago. It is known from parts of the skull of an adult, and it had large spikes on its frill as well as its ridiculous nose. Brachyceratops may be a juvenile form of the genus, but it’s rather too early to say, due to the incomplete nature of Brachyceratops. It is also thought that the long nose grew as the animal did, being much more reasonable in size when the animal is a juvenile. It lived alongside other dinosaurs in a vibrant, warm and seasonally arid environment, such as Prenoceratops, Einiosaurus, Achelousaurus, Scolosaurus, Edmontonia, Bambiraptor, Richardoestesia, Saurornitholestes, Troodon, Gryposaurus, Hypacrosaurus, Maiasaura, Orodromeus, Prosaurolophus, Daspletosaurus, and Gorgosaurus, the latter two of which may have preyed upon Rubeosaurus.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubeosaurus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styracosaurus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Medicine_Formation
Shout out goes to @nicholerhodes!
