Creature Feature 9

Hello, everyone! I hope you're all having a great week so far! This week's Creature Feature covers a rather interestingceratopsian dinosaur, Leptoceratops gracilis.

Unlike its far larger, lumbering cousin Triceratops, Leptoceratops was capable of bipedal locomotion, though forelimb analysis indicates it was capable of walking on all fours despite the fact that it could not pronate its hands (Senter, 2007). Given that some ceratopsian dinosaurs are known to have had quill-like structures on their tail such as Psittacosaurus (Mayr et al., 2002), it is possible that this feature is an ancestral trait in the group, given that Psittacosaurus is basal in comparison to Neoceratopsidae (the lineage that includes Leptoceratops as well as other Ceratopsians such as Triceratops), though there is also the possibility of secondary loss of the character. Until direct evidence of such integument is found in those other species, it is impossible to know for certain.

As with all ceratopsians, Leptoceratops was an herbivore, and evidence based on its cranial anatomy suggests that it had a rather powerful bite (Tanoue et al., 2009). Based on the morphology of the teeth, and wear patterns observed, it is likely that Leptoceratops chewed its food using a mixture of shearing and crushing motions (Lindgren et al., 2007). This would allow it to process extremely tough plant matter.

Given its small size, it was most likely a low feeder. Given that angiosperms were the most diverse plants at the time, it is likely that these formed an important part of its diet. However, despite their relatively low diversity in terms of species, it is also possible that other groups such as ferns and/or gymnosperms were present in larger numbers of individual plants.

Well, I hope this has given you all bit more information about the rather interesting basal Neoceratopsian dinosaur from Hell Creek! Tune in next Tuesday for another Creature Feature!

Acknowledgements:
Senter, P. 2007. Analysis of forelimb function in basal ceratopsians. Journal of Zoology 273 (3): 305-314.
Mayr, G; Peters, S. D.; Plodowski, G; Vogel, O. 2002. Bristle-like integumentary structures at the tail of the horned dinosaur Psittacosaurus. Naturwissenschaften 89 (8): 361-365.
Tanoue, Kyo; Grandstaff, Barbara S.; You, Hai-Lu; Dodson, Peter. 2009. Jaw Mechanics in Basal Ceratopsia (Ornithischia, Dinosauria). The Anatomical Record 292 (9): 1352-1369.
Lindgren, Johan; Currie, Philip J.; Siverson, Mikael; Rees, Jan; Cederström, Peter; Lindgren, Filip. 2007. The First Neoceratopsian Dinosaur Remains from Europe. Palaeontology 50 (4): 929-937.