Ceratosaurus

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Ceratosaurus
Temporal range: Upper Jurassic 161.2–145 mya
Ceratosaurus mount utah museum 1.jpg
Scientific classification
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Ceratosaurus

Marsh, 1884
Species
  • C. nasicornis (type)
    Marsh, 1884
  • C. ingens
    (Janensch, 1920)
  • C. dentisulcatus
    Madsen & Wells, 2000
  • C. magnicornis
    Madsen & Wells, 2000

Ceratosaurus was a predatory dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic period, 156 to 145 million years ago.

It was first described by O.C. Marsh in 1884. It had a horn on its nose, and a pair of small horns above its eyes. Unusually, for a theropod, Ceratosaurus had armour: small osteoderms ran down the middle of its back.

The animal had deep jaws and long blade-like teeth. A nearly complete skeleton was discovered in Garden Park, Colorado, in rocks belonging to the Morrison Formation.

Other examples or close relatives have since been found.