Aquilops
AH-kwil-ops
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A relatively small herbivore, the Aquilops is an Early Cretaceous ceratopsian whose fossils were first discovered in southern Montana. It gets its name, meaning “Eagle Face”, from its distinctive beaked snout which it uses to slice through and chew low-growing vegetation.
Discovery
While the first fossils of the Aquilops were discovered in 1997 by palaeontologist Scott Madsen, the species was not formally described and named until 2014 by Andrew Farke. The find is significant to palaeontology as the first basal ceratopsian found in North America. In the modern day, it was synthesised at a secretive facility located on Île Saint-Hubert which remains its only known territory.
Palaeoecology
As a small ceratopsian, Aquilops were prey for many contemporary predators in their Early Cretaceous environment, including Velociraptor, Acrocanthosaurus, and Deinonychus. Modern observations of this animal are rare due its sole synthesis on a discreet island facility, but reports have described it as sociable and curious.
Information
- Era
- Early Cretaceous
- Family
- Ceratopsia
- Genus
- Aquilops
- height
- 0.2M
- length
- 0.55M
- weight
- 1.5Kg
- Diet
- Ground Palaeobotany
- Egg batch size
- 2 - 3
