Nasutoceratops titusi

Nasutoceratops titusi was a large horned dinosaur from the Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah. Its nearly complete skull combines features rarely seen together in centrosaurines: an enlarged, bulbous nasal region, a low blade-like nasal horn, exceptionally long brow horns that project outward and curve forward, and a short rounded frill with modest edge ornamentation. The holotype also preserves parts of the shoulder girdle and forelimbs, vertebrae and patches of skin impression. Nasutoceratops helped reveal a distinctive southern Laramidian radiation of centrosaurines during the Campanian.

Its fossils occur between approximately 76.4 and 75.5 million years ago. Values shown here are approximate and reflect the current curated seed dataset.

The skull was short and deep, dominated by the expanded nasal bones and sweeping brow horns. Those horns extended laterally before curving forward, resembling the spread of cattle horns more than the short brow horns of most centrosaurines. The nasal horn was low and narrow, and the frill lacked the large spikes seen in Styracosaurus. A toothless beak cropped vegetation, while stacked replacement teeth formed dental batteries for slicing plant matter. Preserved skin impressions associated with the forelimb show polygonal scales, but they do not document the entire body's covering.

• Oversized, inflated nasal region
• Very long brow horns projecting outward and curving forward
• Low, narrow blade-like nasal horn
• Short rounded frill with modest edge ornamentation
• Dental batteries containing continuously replaced teeth
• Polygonal skin impressions associated with the forelimb

University of Utah graduate student Eric Lund discovered the holotype UMNH VP 16800 in Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in 2006. Scott Sampson, Lund, Mark Loewen, Andrew Farke and Katherine Clayton formally named Nasutoceratops titusi in 2013. The genus combines Latin nasutus, large-nosed, with Greek ceratops, horned face. The species honours Alan Titus, the monument paleontologist who supported research in the region. The fossils are permanently housed at the Natural History Museum of Utah, where a reconstructed skull is displayed.

Naming authors: Scott D. Sampson, Eric K. Lund, Mark A. Loewen and 2 coauthors.

The Kaiparowits Formation records a humid, subtropical coastal plain threaded by large rivers and wetlands on southern Laramidia. Nasutoceratops lived alongside hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs, small ornithischians, tyrannosaurs and several other ceratopsids. Its fossils come from protected public land; the map therefore marks only the broad, publicly documented plateau rather than a quarry coordinate.

Nasutoceratops was a quadrupedal plant eater that cropped vegetation with its beak and processed it with dental batteries. Its spectacular horns were probably important visual signals and may also have been used in contests, but neither behaviour is directly preserved. The enlarged nose housed an expanded nasal cavity; proposals involving enhanced smell or sound remain uncertain. Several individuals are known, yet they do not demonstrate herding.

• Its brow horns are among the longest relative to skull size in any centrosaurine.
• The genus name literally highlights the animal's unusually large nose.
• Skin impressions were found with the holotype's forelimb.
• The original fossils are kept at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and its reconstructed skull is on display.

A research repository is not necessarily a public exhibit. Loan and display status can change, so check with the institution before visiting.

1. 01
   A remarkable short-skulled horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Laramidia

   Scott D. Sampson, Eric K. Lund, Mark A. Loewen and 2 coauthors · Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280, 20131186 · 2013

   Open source
2. 02
   Nasutoceratops titusi, a basal centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah

   Eric K. Lund, Patrick M. O'Connor, Mark A. Loewen, Zubair A. Jinnah · Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(2), e1054936 · 2016

   Open source
3. 03
   Big-Nosed, Long-Horned Dinosaur Discovered in Utah

   Natural History Museum of Utah

   Open source