Microceratops

First things first: the dinosaur most people know as Microceratops underwent a name change in 2008, to the slightly less snazzy-sounding Microceratus. The reason is that (unbeknownst to the dinosaur paleontology community) the name Microceratops had already been assigned to a genus of wasp, and the classification rules say that no two creatures, no matter how different, no matter if one is alive and the other is extinct, can have the same genus name. (This is the same principle that led to Brontosaurus having its name changed to Apatosaurus a few decades back.)

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Micropachycephalosaurus

By Bob Strauss

Whatever you choose to call it, the 20-pound Microceratops was almost certainly the smallest ceratopsian, or horned, frilled dinosaur, that ever lived, outweighed even by the middle Cretaceous Psittacosaurus, which lay near the root of the ceratopsian family tree. Remarkably, just like its distant ancestor from tens of millions of years back, Microceratops seems to have walked on two legs. That and its unusually tiny frill made it a far cry from the "normal" ceratopsians with which it coexisted, like Triceratops and Styracosaurus. You should bear in mind, though, that Microceratops was "diagnosed" on the basis of very limited fossil remains, so there's still a lot we don't know about this dinosaur.

Microceratops Fast Facts

• Name: Microceratops (Greek for "small horned face"); pronounced MIKE-roe-SEH-rah-tops; also known as Microceratus
• Habitat: Woodlands of Central Asia
• Historical Period: Late Cretaceous (70 million years ago)
• Size and Weight: About three feet long and 15-20 pounds
• Diet: Plants
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Tiny size; occasional bipedal posture; small frill on head