Ceratopsian dinosaur — Centrosaurus apertus

Geologic period: Late Cretaceous — Campanian

Age: Late Cretaceous, Campanian.

Feeding: Herbivorous.

Locomotion: Terrestrial quadruped.

Body plan: Large quadrupedal herbivore with a beaked skull, prominent nasal horn and elaborate bony frill.

Evidence: Complete skull anatomy is direct evidence.

Why it matters: Centrosaurus allows the exhibit to separate what fossils show directly—horn and frill anatomy—from hypotheses about combat, display and species recognition.

Plain Language Identity: A horned centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Campanian of Alberta.

What You Are Looking At: A complete mounted Centrosaurus apertus skull.

Defense Or Attack: Horn and frill had possible defensive and display roles; their behavioral use was likely complex.

Ecosystem: Dinosaur Park Formation ecosystem.

Formation: Dinosaur Park Formation.

Find Location: Alberta, Canada.

Preservation: Original mounted fossil skull.

Open Questions: No single behavioral explanation for every horn and frill feature should be presented as certain.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/centrosaurus-apertus-lambe-1904:nmnhpaleobiology_3383668

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; comparative chronology retained; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Centrosaurus apertus

Evidence / representation: comparative_original_skull_visual

comparative_original_skull_visual

Cretaceous Worlds: Dinosaurs at Their Most Diverse.

Media license: CC BY-SA 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0