1. a small herbivorous dinosaur of the Cretaceous period, known from fossils found in Mongolia, characterized by a bony frill on the back of its skull.
Usage: paleontology; often used in educational contexts about dinosaurs

Examples

• Protoceratops was one of the smallest known ceratopsian dinosaurs.
• Fossils of protoceratops have provided scientists with important information about dinosaur growth and development.
• The protoceratops lived during the Cretaceous period in what is now Mongolia.
• Many protoceratops specimens have been discovered in the Gobi Desert.
• Children often learn about protoceratops in dinosaur units at school.