Dinosaurs Around the World · Drawing 16 of 34
Protoceratops
Asia · Cretaceous
Protoceratops had a beak and bony frill. This plant-eater lacked Triceratops’s three long horns.
Did you know?
Fossils have been found in Mongolia and China.
Look together
Can you point to its beak and its frill?
An idea to try
Choose one colour for the beak and another for the frill.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Protoceratops andrewsi is a small Late Cretaceous ceratopsian. The words “first horned face” in its name should not become a claim that it was the first of the entire group. Fossils allow comparison of features; a name is not evidence.
Look together: Can you point to its beak and its frill? Choose one colour for the beak and another for the frill.
Sources and illustration notes (1)
Simplified reconstruction. Pose, unpreserved tissues and setting are interpreted. Choose your own colours; animals are not to one scale.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- Natural History Museum: ProtoceratopsCompare a small frilled dinosaur with the later, larger Triceratops.
Source review: 2026-10-05. Illustrations are simplified for colouring.
