Guide Note

Protoceratops, distinguished by the bony frill covering the back of its neck, represented two species of sheep-sized herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaurs from the early Cretaceous period related to the ancestor of larger frilled species such as Triceratops. Fast Facts:

1. Name Means: "First Horn Face"
2. Naming Credit: Walter Granger, W.K. Gregory (1923)
3. Range: Mongolia
4. Classification:
   1. Order: Ornithischia
   2. Family: Protoceratopsidae
   3. Genus: Protoceratops
   4. Type Species: Protoceratops andrewsi
5. Period: Early Cretaceous
6. Length: Up to 6 feet
7. Height: Up to 2 feet
8. Weight: Up to 400 pounds
9. Well documented in the fossil record
10. One specimen found with Velociraptor

One of the most famous fossil finds of all time is a clutch of dinosaur eggs found near the remains of a Protoceratops and the predatory Oviraptor. Roy Chapman Andrews, the adventurer on whom Indiana Jones was based, led the team that made the discovery under constant threat of attack by Mongrel bandits. The remarkable claim helped enhance Chapman's reputation.

While there can be no denying the importance of the find, it was discovered in 1993 that at least one of the eggs belonged to Oviraptor, not Protoceratops.

Protoceratops provides us with another dramatic fossil -- in 1971, a protoceratops was discovered locked in a death struggle with a velociraptor. The two were killed, possibly by a sudden sand storm, in the midst of their struggle.