Pronunciation: EE-oh-tri-SEH-ruh-tops
Meaning: Dawn three-horned face
Author/s: Wu et al. (2007)
Synonyms: See below
First Discovery: Alberta, Canada
Discovery Chart Position: #635
Eotriceratops xerinsularis
(Dawn Triceratops of Dry Island Buffalo Jump)Etymology
Eotriceratops is derived from the Greek "eos" (dawn), "tri" (three), "ceras" (horn) and "ops" (face). The species epithet, xerinsularis, is derived from the Greek "xèros" (dry) and the Latin "insula" (island), referring to the Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park where its remains were found. Ojoceratops fowleri? (Sullivan and Lucas, 2010)
"Triceratops xerinsularis" (Paul, 2010)
Discovery
Eotriceratops was discovered in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Edmonton Group) near
the western bank of the Red Deer River in Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, 70 km northwest of Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, by Barnum Brown in August 1910. Distracted by the many shiny Albertasaurus things in the area, Brown chose not to collect the specimen, but he did report its discovery in his 1910 field notes. Unaware that it had already been discovered, a team from the Royal Tyrrell
Museum of Palaeontology and Canadian Museum of Nature headed to Dry Island Buffalo Jump in 2001, and camp cook, Mr. Glen Guthrie, found it again.
The holotype (RTMP 2002.57.5) is an incomplete and disarticulated skeleton, including a partial skull, neck and back vertebrae, some ribs, ossified ligaments, and other fragments.
Preparator
M. Mitchell.
