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Dinosaur Names beginning with the Letter P.

Pachycephalosaurus

Pachycephalosaurus

DataBase Center for Life Science (DBCLS), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Ornithopod
Lived: Early Cretaceous, 121 – 99 million years ago
Weight: 450kg / 990Ibs
Length 4.5m / 14.8ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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The name Pachycephalosaurus means “thick-headed lizard” and is pronounced, “pack-i-KEF-al-oh-sore-russ.” The genus name originates from the Greek words “pachys” which means “thick,” “kephale” which means “head,” and “sauros” which means “lizard”. Pachycephalosaurus lived throughout the Cretaceous epoch and frequented North American terrestrial environments. It lasted from the Campanian through the Maastrichtian periods, and lived on Earth between 72 and 66 million years ago, according to estimates.

It is the most famous and largest of the pachycephalosaur or thick-headed dinosaurs. Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis, the type and currently only valid species, was named in 1931. Pachycephalosaurus was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs and fossil remains have been found in Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Alberta. It was a herbivorous species with a single skull and a few extraordinarily thick skull roofs that measured 9 inches thick. The fragmentary skull of the type species P. wyomingensis is documented from the Lance Formation of Niobrara County, Wyoming. The dome-shaped bony head of the Pachycephalosaurus is well-known and In recent years, more complete fossils have been discovered.

These dinosaurs were estimated to be roughly 4.5 meters long and weighed around 449 kg. They were little yet amazing, with a height comparable to that of a full-grown cow or buffalo, their massive dome-shaped heads of Pachycephalosaurus dinosaurs are well-known. Its skull’s dome-shaped component was roughly 25.4 cm thick, which effectively shielded the dinosaur’s brain. Spikes or bony knobs covered the top of their skulls and reached the tip of their noses. Their teeth were little, and their mouth was shaped like a beak, and the skulls of Pachycephalosaurus were tiny and spherical to leaf-shaped. Their eyes were large and their noses were little, and they were predominantly bipedal, according to the remains. Their legs were large and powerful, but their forearms were probably little, and it possessed five-finger claws on each hand and three clawed toes on each foot. It possessed a long, thick tail that added to its overall length.  As they were always at risk of being hunted by predators, they developed a rapid rate of movement to protect themselves.

Pachycephalosaurus were small herbivorous dinosaurs that lived in North America’s open regions, forests, and terrestrial environments. Plants, fruits, and seeds were its primary sources of nutrition. It is thought that its teeth were unable to handle some of the stronger leaves that other herbivores could, therefore the plants it ate had to be soft. However, it’s worth noting that this dinosaur may have also eaten insects. Paleontologists speculated in the 1970s that male pachycephalosaurs utilised their dome heads as battering rams, similar to bighorn sheep. Their domed cranium served as a defence mechanism against predators. The spikes or bony knobs served as deterrents as well, but they were not sharp or pointy. They are thought to have died out during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction catastrophe.

Pachyrhinosaurus

Pachyrhinosaurus

Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Ceratopsian
Lived: Late Cretaceous, 73.5 – 72.5 million years ago
Weight: 4,000kg 
Length 8m / 26ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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Pachyrhinosaurus, which means ‘thick-nosed lizard,’ is pronounced “pack-ee-RINE-oh-sore-us.” The name of the genus comes from Greek words that indicate “pachy,” “thick nose,” and “lizard.”  Pachyrhinosaurus dinosaurs lived between 71 million and 67 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous Period. It lived in a canyon from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian periods.  Pachyrhinosaurus was a horned centrosaurine ceratopsid herbivorous dinosaur genus that went extinct. The type species is P. canadensis, and two more species in this genus are P. lakustai and P. perotorum. 

It was first discovered in 1946 in Alberta, Canada, was given its name in 1950, and its range included Alaska as well as Alberta. The anterior half of the skull was obtained in 1945 and 1946 from the sandy clay of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in Alberta, Canada, but the right lower mandible and the “beak” were missing. The finding of the Pipestone Creek bone bed in the late 1980s was the most significant prehistoric animal excavation. The find yielded about 3,500 bones, as well as 14 Pachyrhinosaurus skulls, representing individuals of all ages, from full-grown adults to newborns, juveniles, and children.

Pachyrhinosaurus was a big ceratopsian quadrupedal dinosaur that weighed around 1,800 kg and measured 18 to 23 feet long. It had a large head, like other ceratopsids, with a narrow but robust beak and a bony frill. It was a four-legged herbivore with horns above its eyes and a big frill around its neck. Some of its horns grew between and slightly behind the eyes like unicorn horns, while others adorned the frill’s top border. Pachyrhinosaurus likewise had thicker bone knobs, with the largest covering the top of the nose. Pachyrhinosaurus was most likely a herd animal that travelled in vast herds and looked for its young. It was herbivorous and had a robust set of cheek teeth to aid in the chewing of tough, fibrous vegetation, furthermore, its beak was jagged. Pachyrhinosaurus could almost definitely run at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour, which would let it defend itself more effectively.

Dinosaurs lived in a region that was limited to the west by mountains and included old channels, small freshwater ponds, streams, and floodplains. With its strong, toothed beak, and its cheek teeth that were capable of chewing, Pachyrhinosaurus most likely ate cycads, palms, and other prehistoric vegetation. The knobs could have been for species recognition, male competition, or predator defense. When assaulted, the Pachyrhinosaurus will usually charge. It can also emit chemical pheromones that have an impact on nearby species, including generally docile mammals. When it is attacked, it can release a red chemical from its nostrils, which will enrage adjacent creatures and cause them to attack the creature’s attacker.

Panoplosaurus

Panoplosaurus

Conty, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Armoured
Lived: Late Cretaceous, 79 – 75 million years ago
Weight: 4,000kg 
Length 5 – 7m / 16 – 23ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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Panoplosaurus is pronounced “pan-op-loh-sore-us,” and its name is derived from the Greek hoplon, which means “well-armored lizard.” It was given its name in 1919. It lived during the Cretaceous epoch and roamed North America’s terrestrial areas 66 million years ago. They appear to have lived on coastal plain flatlands near old mid-continental seaways in western North America, and during the Late Cretaceous Period, this armoured dinosaur was one of the last of the Nodosaurids to be discovered. 

Panoplosaurus dinosaurs are part of the nodosaur family of armoured dinosaurs with Edmontonia and Panoplosaurus appearing to be closely related. The genus Panoplosaurus contains only one species, Panoplosaurus mirus. Its fossils have been discovered in Alberta, Coahuila, and Montana, with Panoplosaurus only being known from two partial skeletons, one of which still has remnants of its original armour. A nearly complete skull in articulation, most or all of the cervical vertebrae, front dorsal vertebrae, a majority of the disarticulated forelimb, three articulated fingers, a fragment of the pelvis, partial sacrum, a few bones of the foot, hundreds of osteoderms, and dermal ossicles were discovered 4.43 km south of the mouth of the Little Sandhill tributary of the Red Deer River.

Panoplosaurus measured 5 to 7 meters in length, stood 2 meters tall, and weighed 1.5 to 1.6 tons. Panoplosarus was a herbivorous animal with thick armor, with its back and tail most likely covered in traverse bands of studded plates. The tail, however, lacked the club found in other ankylosaurids, the shoulders, neck, and front limbs were all clad in bone armor.

The outer surface of this armour was designed with a pronounced curving ridge. A helmet-like shield adorned the top of the head, and cutes of bone were also discovered on the cheeks. There was also believed to possess a short and wide back cranium, and the snout was especially slender. The coracoid was thin and not attached to the scapula, the forelegs were discovered to be hefty, with massive muscles, and three fingers were on the hand. The pelvis was linked to four sacral vertebrae that had short sacral ribs.

Large paired ovals with a pronounced curved ridge on the outer surface of the bony armour that covered the neck, shoulders, and forelimbs were keeled. The species’ small legs prevented it from running swiftly or across long distances, but the big muscles, on the other hand, may have made them more manoeuvrable than a rhinocerous. Panoplosaurus was unique among nodosaurids in that it lacked spikes on the sides of its neck, as evidenced by this specimen.

The dinosaur was a ground-dwelling creature that enjoyed a terrestrial environment, and with the dinosaur’s tiny legs and neck indicate that it ate low-height soft plants and flora and lived in locations where food was plentiful. All varieties of vegetation, including grasses, can be digested by it. They were not known to be particularly aggressive, but the dinosaur’s armour protected it from any prospective predators, and they may have even used the stiff tail to whip a blow.

Pantydraco

Pantydraco

Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Ornithopod
Lived: Triassic, 208.5 – 201.3 million years ago
Weight: 50kg / 164Ibs
Length 3m / 9.1ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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Pantydraco is pronounced “pant-ee-drak-oh,” and it is pronounced “Pant-y-ffynnon dragon.” The Pant-y-ffynnon quarry where the genus was discovered, is how it was given its name, which means “spring valley,” and “draco,” which means “dragon” or “draco-like creature” in Latin. 

It lived in Europe during the Triassic period, and it existed between 208.5 million and 201.3 million years ago while it lived in terrestrial settings. It is one of the very few dinosaurs found in the country of Wales. 

Thecodontosaurus caducus was Pantydraco’s previous name and only one Pantydraco species is recognised: P. caducus. The species name, caducus, means “fallen” in Latin, implying that it died after falling into a fissure fill (quarry). The Pant-y-ffynnon quarry in the Bonvilston province of South Wales, United Kingdom, was where its fossil remains were discovered.

A cranium, a partial jawbone, and cervical vertebrae, as well as an incomplete right pelvic bone and half forelimbs, were discovered in an underground limestone cave fissure in 1952. As the sacral neura are not fused together, the fossils are thought to belong to a young or non-adult dinosaur.

The Pantydraco dinosaur was a bipedal omnivorous that measured 3 metres in length and weighed 50 kilogrammes. The Pantydraco dinosaur had a medium build and stood about the same height as an adult human. The creature’s tail was long and tapered towards the end, with a large hip joint. It possessed a dragon-like head and a powerful jaw, and the dinosaur’s forelimbs were evolved to hold prey, while the creature’s hind limbs were adapted to maintain the creature’s body weight.

Pantydraco’s centre of mass is around the pelvic bone, indicating that it was bipedal. The forelimbs were significantly shorter than the hindlimbs. Three of the digits on the hands were movable, while the fourth was implanted.

Pantydraco used to move about by using its hind limbs, and as a result, we might presume they were reasonably quick runners. Their strong limbs, sturdy body, and well-developed fangs made it easy for them to catch their prey. Pantydraco reproduced through the depositing of eggs, which were amniotic in nature. They may have been quite territorial and very protective of their eggs and we can suppose that these dinosaurs either wandered in tiny groups, or lived alone. 

It used to wander the European continent’s rainforests, grasslands, and plains, foraging on a variety of plants and preying on other creatures. Pantydraco was an omnivore, which meant it ate both plants and animals. The species used to devour small insects and dinosaurs for food, and about 200 million years ago, Pantydraco dinosaurs became extinct.

Paralititan

Paralititan

Dmitry Bogdanov, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Sauropod
Lived: Late Cretaceous 99.6 – 93.5 million years ago
Weight: 30,000kg 
Length 27m / 88.5ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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The word Paralititan means “tidal giant” and is pronounced “pa-ral-i-tie-tuhn.” The generic name “Stromer’s tidal titan” or “Stromer’s tidal giant” refers to the “paralic” tidal flats on which the species resided. During the Upper Cretaceous period, the paralititan dinosaur roamed the Earth between 99 and 94 million years ago. 

The huge titanosaurian herbivorous Sauropod Paralititan belonged to the genus Paralititan. The type species for this genus was P. stromeri. The name honors the paleontologist and geologist who discovered the dinosaur remains in 1911. The type species, Paralititan stromeri, was described and named in 2001.

Fossilized Paralititan was originally identified in Egypt’s Bahariya Formation’s Upper Cretaceous coastal deposits. The fossil was found in tidal flat sediments that also included fossil mangrove vegetation, with the specimen is a partial skeleton without the skull. Apart from two fused posterior sacral vertebrae, two anterior caudal vertebrae, both incomplete scapulae, two humeri, and a metacarpal, it is incomplete. The Paralititan type specimen was disarticulated within an oval of eight metres in length, with the numerous bones gathered, indicating that it had been scavenged by a carnivorous dinosaur. Since Romer’s 1935 publication, Paralititan is the first tetrapod to be discovered in the Bahariya Formation.

Despite the fact that the remains were well preserved, there were not many of them. Scientists have found that Paralititan was one of the largest dinosaurs to have ever lived, with an estimated weight of 59 tonnes, a length of 28 metres, and a height of 9 metres based on the available evidence. The humerus (upper ‘arm’ bone) is reported to have grown to a length of 169 cm. It has a long neck that allowed it to reach the topmost branches of trees swiftly., and a big gut that allowed it to digest vast volumes of plant matter. It walked on four legs and had a wide stance, and it has osteoderms (armoured plates in the back) that were designed to protect it from predators. Despite its size, the Paralititan most likely moved at a snail’s speed, however, its strides were fairly long, and it was estimated to move at a speed of roughly 8 kph. It was reconstructed using roughly 100 bone fragments from 16 distinct bones that were discovered. 

The Paralititan dinosaur was discovered predominantly in tidal areas and is the first dinosaur species to have lived among mangroves, according to research. This dinosaur’s scavenged skeleton was discovered in coastal deposits along the Tethys Sea’s beach. This herbivore dinosaur probably ate leaves, twigs, roots, and rudimentary fruits, vegetables, and seeds to stay alive. It was believed that it ingested roughly 326.6 kg of plant stuff every day and had a unique stomach to digest all of the plant matter. Due to its long neck, it could reach the tops of the highest trees and eat any form of leaf that was there as Paralititan food.  To defend itself against dangerous carnivores, the Paralititan generally had osteoderms and a wide-gauge stance to scare other dinosaur species.

Parasaurolophus

Parasaurolophus

Leandra Walters, Phil Senter, James H. Robins, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Ornithopod
Lived: Late Cretaceous 76.5 – 73 million years ago
Weight: 2,500kg 
Length 9.5m / 31ft
Diet: Herbivorous

Parasaurolophus (pa-ra-saw-ROL-off-us) was a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur that lived towards the end of the Mesozoic, Campanian Age, during the Upper Cretaceous Period, around 76.5 – 73 million years ago, in the woodlands of North America. Parasaurolophus lived at the same time as Albertosaurus, Nanotyrannus, Lambeosaurus (another hadrosaur), Euoplocephalus, Kritosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus.

Parasaurolophus measured 31 feet (9.5 metres) in length, 16 feet (5 metres) in height and weighed 2 – 3 tons. Like other hadrosaurs, Parasaurolophus was a bipedal and quadruped dinosaur and moved around and ran on its hind legs and would change to all 4 legs while foraging for food on the ground. It was quite a fast runner.

The most notable feature of the Parasaurolophus was its long curved crest on their heads which could measure 6 feet (1.8 metres) in length, it was larger than the rest of their skull.

Parksosaurus

Parksosaurus

Steveoc 86, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Ornithopod
Lived: Late Cretaceous 76 – 74 million years ago
Weight: 45kg / 99Ibs
Length 2.5m /8.2ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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Parksosaurus is pronounced, “PARKS-oh-SORE-us.” It was found in 1937 by palaeontologist William Parks and given the name Parksosaurus, which means “William Parks’ lizard.”  It existed some 66 million years ago in Alberta, Canada, in the Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation of the Maastrichtian era. Parksosaurus is a genus of herbivorous neornithischian dinosaurs. Since its discovery, Parksosaurus has been classified as a hypsilophodont and the only type species for this genus is P. warreni. It’s one of the few non-hadrosaurid ornithopods known from the end of the Cretaceous period in North America, dating back roughly 70 million years.

This ornithopod‘s incomplete remains have been discovered in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, United States of America. Paleontologists discovered two separate fossils, each of which had a partially articulated skeleton and half head, 18 teeth, and bones in its ribs, thighs, legs, and toes.

A tiny dinosaur weighing 45 kilos and measuring 2.5 metres in length, they possessed powerful arms and long toes for trekking through muck and rivers. They had a horny, pointed beak, a small cranium, and a strong, short thigh, according to legend. The head was little and the neck was extremely lengthy, their ribs and hindlimbs were robust, and their cartilage was thin and ossified. They possessed a long tail and walked on two legs and the shoulder girdle was tough, with single teeth for slicing and cutting food. Due to similarities in body length, nutrition, and appearance, the specimen resembled other animals such the Thescelosaurus.  They benefited significantly from their strong thigh muscles, despite their diminutive size, as these dinosaurs had the ability to run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, its quickness and agility were essential for survival at the time. These hypsilophodonts reproduced sexually, laying roughly 2-3 eggs, just like any other mammal. In general, the Parksosaurus was not aggressive; but, when pursued by a predator, it would run quite rapidly.

This species was previously found in the Edmonton Formation and is now thought to be in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation. It was a herbivorous dinosaur that ate the foliage of low-level conifers, deciduous shrubs, and trees belonging to the angiosperms, a recently created group of flowering plants.  Despite the fact that predatory hunting was a factor in the population fall, they became extinct owing to harsh climate conditions on Earth.

Patagosaurus

Patagosaurus

Smokeybjb, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Sauropod
Lived: Mid Jurassic 165 – 161 million years ago
Weight: 9,400kg
Length 16.5m / 54ft
Diet: Herbivorous

Patagosaurus (PAT-a-go-SAWR-us) was a huge dinosaur from the long-necked group Sauropoda who lived during the Callovian Age during the Middle Jurassic, 165 – 161 million years ago, in what is now Chubut, Argentina, South America. Other Argentinian dinosaurs living approximately at the same time were Piatnitzkysaurus, Condorraptor and Amygdalodon.

Patagosaurus measured 54 feet (16.5 metres) in length, 20 feet (6 metres) in height and weighed around 9,400kgs. Similar to other primitive sauropods, it was heavily built and similar to Cetiosaurus (Whale Lizard) in appearance but its hips and vertebrae were different. Patagosaurus had a very long neck which looked like a very thick trunk and a long, heavy tail. Its head was small and it had many cheek teeth for grinding plant material. It was quadrupedal and walked in all 4 thick legs.

Patagosaurus was a herbivore and ate plants. Its enemies were the theropod dinosaurs.

Pelecanimimus

Pelecanimimus

Image source: El fosilmaníaco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Small theropod
Lived: Early Cretaceous 127 – 121 million years ago
Weight: 17 – 25kg / 37 – 55Ibs
Length 1.9 – 2.5m / 6.2 – 8.2ft
Diet: Carnivorous

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The word Pelecanimimus is pronounced “Pel-e-can-i-mime-us” and means “Pelican mimic.” The generic name comes from the Latin words pelecanus, which means “pelican,” and mimus, which means “mimic,” referring to the long snout and throat pouch. In 1994, it was given a name and a description, and it lived during the Cretaceous epoch and roamed Europe’s terrestrial areas 127 and 121 million years ago. 

Pelecanimimus is a basal (“basic”) ornithomimosaurian omnivore dinosaur genus and although Pelecanimimus was not closely related to lizards, it was a member of the Saurischia or “hip lizard” family. The sole type species is Polydon, and the particular name is derived from Greek “polys”, many, and “odous”, tooth, and refers to the theropod‘s huge number of teeth. Its remains have been discovered in  Spain (Aragon), and the only known specimen consists of the articulated front half of a skeleton, which includes the skull, lower jaws, all of the neck vertebrae and most of the back vertebrae, ribs, sternum, pectoral girdle, a complete right forelimb and most of the left forelimb, ribs, sternum, the pectoral girdle, and a complete right forelimb and most of the left forelimb. Soft-tissue remnants can be seen around the rear of the skull, around the neck, and around the front limbs.

Pelecanimimus was between 1.9 and 2.5 metres long, weighed 220 pounds, and stood 1 metre tall at the hips. Ostrich dinosaurs, Pelecanimimus. Almost all of these dinosaurs have been given names based on the birds they resemble. Pelecanimimus is additionally distinguished from subsequent species by the huge number of teeth still remaining in its mouth, which totals roughly two hundred and twenty. Its teeth were all unevenly spaced and had a tight “waist” between the crown and the base. Pelecanimimus also had a tiny crest on the back of its head, which was not found in other ornithomimosaurs. For further rigidity, the bones of the lower arm are packed tightly together, and the claws that emerge from the tips of the fingers are straight. It’s likely that the hands and claws were also used to catch prey or possibly feed it. Soft tissue impressions also demonstrate that Pelecanimimus’ skin was naked and scaley, indicating that he lacked a feather covering. Pelecanimimus may have behaved similarly to a modern-day crane, wading out in lakes or ponds with its claws and teeth catching fish and storing them in its skin flap. Pelecanimimus was also the first ornithomimosaur to have its hyoid apparatus intact (specialized tongue bones in the neck). 

Pelecanimimus lived and hunted in shallow waters and its teeth are supposed to have given him a cutting and ripping bite, but in subsequent forms, these teeth would be replaced with a keratinous beak that accomplished a similar task. Pelecanimimus was an omnivore dinosaur that ate both meat and vegetation, but it was also known to dive into the water to capture fish or other tiny aquatic animals like frogs. 

The name Pelorosaurus means “monstrous lizard” and is pronounced, “pel-oh-ROW-sore-us.” The genus name comes from the Greek words “pelor,” which means “monster,” and “saurus,” which means “lizard.” Pelorosaurus existed from 150.8 million years ago to the Lower Cretaceous Epoch and occupied the terrestrial portions of Europe during the Cretaceous period.

Pelorosaurus is a titanosauriform herbivorous sauropod dinosaur genus. There is only one type species in this genus, P. conybeari. Pelorosaurus was named in 1850 and is believed to have been a brachiosaurid. Fossils have been discovered in Metropolitan France, England (United Kingdom). The sauropod dinosaur Pelorosaurus was described in 1852 from a related left humerus, ulna, radius, and skin impression from the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian-Valanginian) Hastings Beds Group near Hastings, East Sussex, southeast England. So far, three separate dinosaur specimens have been unearthed, including neck and back vertebrae, an arm bone, partial hind leg bones, partial hip bones, and a few other fragmented components. Skin impressions with hexagonal (six-sided) plates (9-26 mm across) have also been found.

The species is considerably larger, with an estimated length of over 24 m, a humerus (upper limb bone) length of around 4.5 ft, and a weight of around 14 thousand kilos. It was a colossal dinosaur with long necks, tails, small skulls, and four thick pillar-shaped legs. It was a plant-eating dinosaur with spatulate teeth. Previously, the genus was thought to be a cross between a Sauropoda and an Iguanodon. These dinosaurs were most likely precocial, meaning they were fully developed and mobile from the moment they were born. Intruders or guys from other herds must have been antagonistic to male dinosaurs.

This large monster lived in England and Portugal’s wetland and coastal habitats. Pelorosaurus most likely ate soft aquatic plants or used its teeth to nibble or scrape terrestrial plant fronds. Natural calamities may have caused the dinosaur to fall extinct 132 million years ago. 

Pentaceratops

Pentaceratops

Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Type: Ceratopsian
Lived: Late Cretaceous 76 – 73 million years ago
Weight: 2,500kg
Length 6m / 7.1ft
Diet: Herbivorous

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The name Pentaceratops means “five-horned face” and is pronounced, “pent-ah-ker-ah-tops.” The generic name is derived from the Greek “penta” meaning five, “keras” meaning horn, and “ops” meaning face, in reference to its two long epijugal bones, spikes that stick out side wards from behind its eyes. It lived throughout the Cretaceous period and inhabited in the terrestrial areas of North America from 83.5 million years ago, until the Maastrichtian Age.

The herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur Pentaceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaurs. When the type species, Pentaceratops sternbergii, was described in 1923, the genus was given its name. The specific name sternbergii was given to the species in honor of its discoverer. 

This dinosaur’s remains were discovered in the Isla Sorna Formation and later in the Dinosaur Park Formation and Kirtland Formation, fossils have also been discovered in eastern Asia. The first Pentaceratops fossil, a partial skull, was discovered in 1891 in Wyoming, while  a cranium and a rump were discovered in a stratum of the Kirtland Formation near the Kimbetoh Wash in 1921. A pair of brow horns, a portion of skull frill, a right squamosal, half skeletons with skulls, a skeleton minus the skull, and fragmented skulls are among the 16 specimens recovered thus far. Apart from these, a juvenile Pentaceratops specimen has also been unearthed.

Pentaceratops was roughly 6 meters long and weighed about 5 tons. It has a short nose horn, two long brow horns, and lengthy jugal bone horns. It has a lengthy frill on its cranium with triangular hornlets on the edge, and one fascinating fact about them is that they have a rhinoceros-like appearance. It was squat, walked on four legs, and possessed a beak and a large number of cheek teeth. From where the ligaments ran to the front, the vertebrae had a fairly lengthy spine. The skull measured approximately 2.3 meters in length, which is unusually large for a dinosaur. They have a horn on their snout that is directed upwards and backward, and the horns above both eyes were curled forward at the same time. The frill on their heads was tilted forward, and the front feet were narrower than the back feet, which were wider. There were no eggs laid by the Pentaceratops, but instead, female members of this species gave birth to new offspring. Mothers were the primary caregivers for young Pentaceratops. According to paleontologists, the five horns or beaks they possessed were utilized to protect them from predators, and their weight also helped them gain an advantage in combat.

As a terrestrial animal, this dinosaur liked grasslands, marsh areas, wetlands, scrublands, woods, long grasses, or other locations with enough water and plant material to feed, as they were herbivores. It ate mostly low-lying foliage and plants, plucking and slicing ferns and cycads with its long, flat teeth. This animal went extinct 65-64 million years ago as a result of an asteroid strike.