Horned dinosaurs venture abroad

Abstract

The discovery in Europe of fossils of a small horned dinosaur, a member of a group previously known only from Asia and North America, will prompt a rethink of biogeography at that time in the past. The ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, were distinctive features of the fauna in the Late Cretaceous of East Asia and western North America, and are usually thought of as endemic to those areas. There have been hints that ceratopsians might have occurred elsewhere, but nothing definitive until now. The discovery of a new species of ceratopsian in what is now Hungary shows that Late Cretaceous biogeography still has surprises in store. Much of Europe at that time was an archipelago lying between the African and Eurasian land masses. Although poorly known, it could still yield insights into dinosaur biogeography.