Ceratopsian Month #16 – Achelousaurus horneri

An illustration of the extinct ceratopsid dinosaur Achelousaurus. It's a chunky quadrupedal dinosaur with a parrot-like beak, thick ridged keratinous bumps on its nose and brows instead of horns, and two long spikes at the top of its frill. It's depicted with a speculative shaggy covering of hair-like protofeathers over its back and tail, and it's colored orange with red red stripes and black-and-yellow eyespot markings on its frill.

Achelousaurus (“Achelous lizard”) seems to have been a transitional form among the Pachyrhinosaurini. While slightly more basal members like Einiosaurus had well-developed nose horns, and the later Pachyrhinosaurus had enormous flattened nasal bosses, Achelousaurus was somewhere in-between.

Living in Montana, USA, about 74 million years ago, it reached sizes of about 6m long (19′8″). Instead of horns, rough patches of bone on its skull supported bosses over its snout and eyes, which in life would have been covered by thick layers of keratinous skin.

Unlike adults, juveniles had small brow horns with bony cores which gradually developed into full bosses as they grew. It’s possible that the bosses of mature individuals were used for headbutting or ramming behaviors.

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