"KIDS HOME STUDY DINOSAURS Pentaceratops

Pentaceratops

Pentaceratops

Pentaceratops sternbergi

  • Pronounced:   Pen - tah - Sair - ah - tops
  • Diet:   Herbivore (Plant-Eater)
  • Name Means:   "Five Horned Face"
  • Length:   26 Feet (8 m)
  • Height:   13 Feet (4 m)
  • Weight:   3 tons (2700 kilos)
  • Time:   Cretaceous - 72 million years ago
Location : Southwestern United States

Pentaceratops was a member of the family of dinosaurs known as ceratopsian, of which Triceratops  was also a member. It was a fairly large plant-eater that had a long neck frill with large holes in the bone. These holes would have been covered with skin. It had long horns over its eyes and a smaller horn over its nose.

Pentaceratops gets its name of "Five Horned Face" not because it had five horns, but because it had longer epijugals - the spike-like cheek projections that are present on all ceratopsians to some degree. This dinosaur had a very large frill and to date, no complete frill has been found. These large frills may have been used as a display against frontal threats. There is some discussion that Chasmosaurus  and Pentaceratops belong in the same genus.