# Spinops

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Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Spinops Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 76.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Skull reconstruction Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Reptilia Clade: Dinosauria Clade: †Ornithischia Clade: †Ceratopsia Family: †Ceratopsidae Subfamily: †Centrosaurinae Tribe: †Centrosaurini Genus: †Spinops Farke et al., 2011 Species: †S. sternbergorum Binomial name †Spinops sternbergorum Farke et al., 2011

***Spinops*** is an [extinct](/source/Extinct) [genus](/source/Genus) of [centrosaurine](/source/Centrosaurine) [ceratopsian](/source/Ceratopsia) [dinosaur](/source/Dinosaur) from the [Late Cretaceous](/source/Late_Cretaceous) of [Alberta](/source/Alberta), southern [Canada](/source/Canada).[1] It was a medium-sized ceratopsian, reaching 4.5 metres (15 ft) in length and 1.3 metric tons (1.4 short tons) in body mass.[2]

## Discovery and naming

Partial skull in left side, front, and upper views

*Spinops* is known from the [holotype](/source/Holotype) [NHMUK](/source/Natural_History_Museum%2C_London) PV R 16307, a partial [parietal](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parietal) bone, preserving most of the midline bar. Referred material include NHMUK PV R 16308, a partial parietal bone, partial [dentary](/source/Dentary) and unidentifiable [limb](/source/Limb_(anatomy)) fragments, NHMUK PV R 16306, an incomplete [skull](/source/Skull), preserving only the [dorsal](/source/Dorsal_(anatomy)) portion of the skull, and NHMUK PV R 16309, a partial right squamosal. None of this material was found in articulation, however it was all closely associated in the same bone bed, in the northwestern region ("Steveville Badlands") of the [Dinosaur Provincial Park](/source/Dinosaur_Provincial_Park). Fossils of *Spinops* were first found in 1916, and were housed in the [Natural History Museum](/source/Natural_History_Museum%2C_London) in London. The material was not described until 2011, when the new species *Spinops sternbergorum* was erected. The material was probably collected from the upper part of the [Oldman Formation](/source/Oldman_Formation) or the lower part of the [Dinosaur Park Formation](/source/Dinosaur_Park_Formation), dating to the [Campanian](/source/Campanian) stage of the [Late Cretaceous](/source/Late_Cretaceous) [period](/source/Geological_timescale).[1]

Two partials skulls of *Spinops* were found in 1916, in a large bone bed near the [Red Deer River](/source/Red_Deer_River) of southern Alberta, by American commercial fossil collector [Charles Hazelius Sternberg](/source/Charles_Hazelius_Sternberg) and his son Levi Sternberg. The fossils were sent to the Natural History Museum in London (then called the British Museum (Natural History)), which had financed the expedition. The museum considered the fossils too fragmentary to display, leaving them unprepared in the collections. In a letter to Charles H. Sternberg, English paleontologist [Arthur Smith Woodward](/source/Arthur_Smith_Woodward) of the British Museum called the *Spinops* material "nothing but rubbish".[3] The precise whereabouts of the bonebed that yielded the fossils is unknown due to poor field record keeping, but [Darren Tanke](/source/Darren_Tanke) of the [Royal Tyrrell Museum](/source/Royal_Tyrrell_Museum) is spearheading attempts at its relocation. The fossils were re-examined in 2011 by a team led by Dr Andrew A. Farke; which realized that the fossils represented an entirely new species of dinosaur.[4]

*Spinops* was first named by [Andrew A. Farke](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andrew_A._Farke&action=edit&redlink=1), [Michael J. Ryan](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_J._Ryan_(palaeontologist)&action=edit&redlink=1), [Paul M. Barrett](/source/Paul_M._Barrett), [Darren H. Tanke](/source/Darren_Tanke), [Dennis R. Braman](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dennis_R._Braman&action=edit&redlink=1), [Mark A. Loewen](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_A._Loewen&action=edit&redlink=1), and [Mark R. Graham](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_R._Graham&action=edit&redlink=1) in [2011](/source/2011_in_paleontology); the [type species](/source/Type_species) is *Spinops sternbergorum*. The [generic name](/source/Name_of_a_biological_genus) is derived from [Latin](/source/Latin) *spina*, "spine", and [Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) *ops*, "face", in reference to the unique ornamentation on the face. The [specific name](/source/Specific_name_(zoology)) honours [Charles H.](/source/Charles_Hazelius_Sternberg) and Levi Sternberg.[1]

## Classification

Restoration

Squamosal and holotype parietal

The [cladogram](/source/Cladogram) presented below follows a recent phylogenetic analysis by Chiba *et al.* (2017):[5]

Centrosaurinae Diabloceratops eatoni Machairoceratops cronusi Nasutoceratopsini Avaceratops lammersi (ANSP 15800) MOR 692 CMN 8804 Nasutoceratops titusi Malta new taxon Xenoceratops foremostensis Sinoceratops zhuchengensis Wendiceratops pinhornensis Albertaceratops nesmoi Medusaceratops lokii Eucentrosaura Centrosaurini Rubeosaurus ovatus Styracosaurus albertensis Coronosaurus brinkmani Centrosaurus apertus Spinops sternbergorum Pachyrhinosaurini Einiosaurus procurvicornis Pachyrostra Achelousaurus horneri Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum

## See also

- [Timeline of ceratopsian research](/source/Timeline_of_ceratopsian_research)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Spinops_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Spinops_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Spinops_1-2) Farke, Andrew A.; Michael J. Ryan; Paul M. Barrett; Darren H. Tanke; Dennis R. Braman; Mark A. Loewen; Mark R. Graham (2011). ["A new centrosaurine from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, and the evolution of parietal ornamentation in horned dinosaurs"](http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app56/app20100121.pdf) (PDF). *Acta Palaeontologica Polonica*. **56** (4): 691–702. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4202/app.2010.0121](https://doi.org/10.4202%2Fapp.2010.0121).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Paul, Gregory S. (2016). [*The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs*](http://worldcat.org/oclc/985402380). Princeton University Press. p. 289. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-78684-190-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-78684-190-2). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [985402380](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/985402380).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CMNH_3-0)** Bogar, Glenda (6 December 2011). ["Scientists Discover New Species of Horned Dinosaur from Specimens Uncovered in London Museum Collections"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131003224528/http://www.cmnh.org/site/AboutUs/PressRoom/2011/dec11spinops.aspx). *Cleveland Museum of Natural History Press Room*. Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Archived from [the original](http://www.cmnh.org/site/AboutUs/PressRoom/2011/dec11spinops.aspx) on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Collins, Nick (6 Dec 2011). ["New dinosaur species discovered in Natural History Museum after nearly a century"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111206222510/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/8938066/New-dinosaur-species-discovered-in-Natural-History-Museum-after-nearly-a-century.html). *[The Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph)*. Archived from [the original](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/8938066/New-dinosaur-species-discovered-in-Natural-History-Museum-after-nearly-a-century.html) on 6 December 2011. Retrieved 13 Mar 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Kentaro Chiba; Michael J. Ryan; Federico Fanti; Mark A. Loewen; David C. Evans (2018). "New material and systematic re-evaluation of *Medusaceratops lokii* (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Judith River Formation (Campanian, Montana)". *Journal of Paleontology*. **92** (2): 272–288. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2018JPal...92..272C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018JPal...92..272C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/jpa.2017.62](https://doi.org/10.1017%2Fjpa.2017.62). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [134031275](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:134031275).

v t e Ceratopsia Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Clade: Dinosauria Clade: Ornithischia Clade: Marginocephalia Avemetatarsalia see Avemetatarsalia Ornithischia see Ornithischia Ceratopsia see below↓ Ceratopsia Ceratopsia Albalophosaurus Micropachycephalosaurus Psittacosaurus Chaoyangsauridae Chaoyangsaurus Hualianceratops Stenopelix Xuanhuaceratops Yinlong Neoceratopsia Aquilops Auroraceratops Beg Graciliceratops Koreaceratops Kulceratops? Liaoceratops Microceratus Mosaiceratops Sasayamagnomus Archaeoceratopsidae Archaeoceratops Helioceratops Yamaceratops? Leptoceratopsidae Asiaceratops Bainoceratops Cerasinops Ferrisaurus Gremlin Gryphoceratops Ischioceratops Leptoceratops Montanoceratops Prenoceratops Udanoceratops Unescoceratops Zhuchengceratops Protoceratopsidae Bagaceratops Breviceratops Protoceratops Ceratopsoidea Ajkaceratops Ferenceratops Turanoceratops Zuniceratops Ceratopsidae see below↓ Ceratopsidae Ceratopsidae Agathaumas Brachyceratops Ceratops Dysganus Monoclonius Polyonax Chasmosaurinae Agujaceratops Anchiceratops Arrhinoceratops Bisticeratops Bravoceratops Chasmosaurus Coahuilaceratops Cryptarcus Judiceratops Kosmoceratops Mercuriceratops Navajoceratops Pentaceratops Sierraceratops Spiclypeus Terminocavus Utahceratops Vagaceratops Triceratopsini Eotriceratops Nedoceratops Ojoceratops Regaliceratops Tatankaceratops? Titanoceratops Torosaurus Triceratops Centrosaurinae Diabloceratops Machairoceratops Menefeeceratops Sinoceratops Wendiceratops Xenoceratops Albertaceratopsini Albertaceratops Lokiceratops Medusaceratops Nasutoceratopsini Avaceratops Crittendenceratops Furcatoceratops Nasutoceratops Yehuecauhceratops Centrosaurini Centrosaurus Coronosaurus Spinops Styracosaurus? Pachyrhinosaurini Achelousaurus Einiosaurus Stellasaurus Pachyrhinosaurus See also: Timeline Category

Taxon identifiers Spinops sternbergorum Wikidata: Q764899 Paleobiology Database: 215070

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Spinops](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinops) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinops?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.