- Who
- Unknown
- Where
- China (Liaoning and Hebei Provinces)
- When
The oldest ceratopsian dinosaur discovered to date is Liaoceratops. It was discovered by Xing Xu (China) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, in the Yixian Formation, a fossil-rich rock bed in northeast China. The rocks in which the skulls and skeletons were found date the creature at having lived 120-145 million years ago. This dog-sized herbivore was a precurser to the more famous Triceratops. The discovery was announced on 21 March, 2002 in the journal Nature.
Ceratopsian dinosaurs are characterised by a beak and a bony frill. It is uncertain whether Liaoceratops stood on two legs or all fours, like its larger descendants.
