The partial skeleton of a leptoceratopsid dinosaur, Ischioceratops zhuchengensis gen. et sp. nov., was excavated from the bone-beds of the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China. This fossil represents the second leptoceratopsid dinosaur specimen recovered from the Kugou locality, a highly productive site in Zhucheng. The ischium of the new taxon is morphologically unique among known Dinosauria, flaring gradually to form an obturator process in its middle portion and resembling the shaft of a recurve bow. An elliptical fenestra perforates the obturator process, and the distal end of the shaft forms an axehead-shaped expansion. The discovery of Ischioceratops increases the known taxonomic diversity and morphological disparity of the Leptoceratopsidae.
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Department of Geology, The Field Museum, Chicago, United States of America;Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum, Zhucheng, Shandong, China;Zhucheng Dinosaur Museum, Zhucheng, Shandong, China;Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China;Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Recommended Citation:
Yiming He,Peter J. Makovicky,Kebai Wang,et al. A New Leptoceratopsid (Ornithischia, Ceratopsia) with a Unique Ischium from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong Province, China[J]. PLOS ONE,2015-01-01,10(12)