Microceratus is a genus of small ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in the Cretaceous period in Asia. It walked on two legs, had short front arms, a characteristic ceratopsian ruff and a beak-like mouth, and was about 60 cm (2.0 ft) long. It was one of the first ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, along with Psittacosaurus in Mongolia.
The type specimen, Microceratops gobiensis, was first described by Bohlin in 1953, and the second species, M. sulcidens, might belong to Asiaceratops instead. However, the generic name was already occupied by an ichneumonid wasp with the same name. Although much of the material has been reassigned to the genus Graciliceratops, Mateus created a replacement name, Microceratus, in 2008 for the type specimen.
Microceratus belonged to the Ceratopsia (Ancient Greek for "horned face"), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks that thrived in North America and Asia during the Cretaceous period, which ended about 66 million years ago. . All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era.
Like all ceratopsians, Microceratus was herbivorous. During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited in the landscape," so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. It would have used its sharp ceratopsian beak to bite into leaves or needles.
Incredible museum-quality replicas with a high degree of scientific rigor, in which Computed Tomography of real fossils has been used in addition to an exhaustive paleontological study to create these magnificent models.
Approximate measurements of the Microceratops:
- 1:1 scale Three-part assembly kit
- Length 600mm
- Height 215mm
- Snout-tail length 600 mm
- Includes acrylic support
- Base not included
