EXHIBIT 199
Aquilops americanus
Aquilops was a small early ceratopsian from Montana, distinguished by a hooked beak with a low bump. Its known fossil is a partial skull and jaws. [1]
TWO WAYS TO PICTURE THE PAST
Compare the evidence with the familiar movie image. The illustrations are not to a shared scale.
Original study photograph of the same Aquilops americanus type cranium, OMNH 34557: A, right side; B, left side. This is compressed, incomplete fossil material rather than a restored whole head or body. The original study proposes a subadult stage comparatively; lower-jaw fragments are not shown here. The five-centimetre scale bar belongs to the source figure. [1]
Cranium of Aquilops.png · Andrew A. Farke, W. Desmond Maxwell, Richard L. Cifelli, Mathew J. Wedel. CC BY 2.5. Original 2069 × 1892 pixel Commons figure proportionally reduced and converted to WebP; thumbnail proportionally reduced. No upsampling, cropping, mirroring, anatomical edits or compositing. Source labels and scale bar retained.
The photograph or figure shows the credited fossil material; displayed mounts and labels can include interpretation.
Original cinematic interpretation of Aquilops americanus. The partial type skull guides the strongly hooked rostral front and low beak boss. The type is hypothesized to be subadult; the short rear skull rim and beak sheath are restored. Bipedal stance, complete body, covering, colors and scenery are comparative or artistic choices, without a claim of measured adult size or observed behavior. Lighting, coloration and scenery are artistic choices. This image does not document a fossil locality or behavior.
Original artwork · artistic interpretation.
Scientific view: source-informed reconstruction, credited paleoart or specimen-based imagery. Movie-style view: Original artistic interpretation. Reconstructions involve uncertainty.
MEET THE ANIMAL
Aquilops is a small relative of the horned dinosaurs, known from a single skull rather than a complete skeleton. That skull can reveal features of the head, but it leaves the animal's limb proportions and tail length unknown. The University of Oklahoma's account explains how researchers use related animals to fill those gaps when making a body reconstruction. [D5]
The Natural History Museum describes a plant eater and gives a body-length reference of about sixty centimetres. That length is not measured along a preserved head-to-tail individual. Its growth stage is also uncertain, so a small fossil should not automatically become the maximum adult size for its species. Size estimates are useful as long as their anatomical and growth limits remain visible. [D4]
Its beak had a distinctive bump, but the bump's job remains unresolved. The original describer's explanation also presents a mostly two-legged reconstruction while acknowledging that limb bones are missing. Aquilops is a good example of a dinosaur whose head is much more securely known than its complete silhouette. The fossil supports a recognizable animal without settling every detail of its appearance or behavior. [D2]
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL DOSSIER
The animal, the evidence, and the questions still open.
Aquilops is known from a skull rather than a complete skeleton. Its body can be reconstructed from relatives, but limb proportions and tail length are not directly preserved. [D5]
Profile scope: Genus Aquilops; A. americanus, type OMNH 34557. One cranial individual underpins the profile; whole-body models and proposed subadult stage remain qualified. [D1]
Source supported identifies a description documented by the cited source. Inferred marks a reconstruction or functional estimate. Debated marks competing interpretations. Not established means the sources reviewed for this dossier do not support a firm conclusion; it does not mean a behavior never occurred.
A size reference is an estimate, not a population range. Nesting evidence does not by itself establish courtship, mate choice, or lifelong pairing.
About 0.6 m; skull-based reconstruction
Sam Noble gives two feet. The describer explains scaling the body from close relatives; no postcranial skeleton or independently established adult maximum underpins this reference. [D3] [D2]
1 kg or 3 lb; differing museum references
NHM gives 1 kg; Sam Noble gives three pounds (about 1.36 kg). These educational alternatives lack separate individual calculations and are not a population range or secure mature body mass. [D4] [D3]
Herbivory inferred
The museum classifies Aquilops as plant-eating. Its record does not identify a particular plant, preserved meal or proportion of different foods. [D4]
Probably middle–late Albian Cloverly deposits
The type comes from deep red sandy claystone in basal Unit VII, Carbon County, Montana. The original age assignment is provisional; depositional setting does not establish a preferred microhabitat. [D1]
Mostly bipedal reconstruction
The describer restores a large head, long hindlimbs, shorter forelimbs and long tail using close relatives. No Aquilops limb bones establish gait, speed or precise proportions. [D2]
Downturned beak with low midline boss
The type cranium measures 84.2 mm as preserved. It has three premaxillary teeth, nine upper cheek teeth and at least twelve lower cheek teeth; absent skull regions are restored. [D1]
Not established here
Mixed juvenile and adult cranial traits suggest a subadult. This comparative growth hypothesis supplies no breeding age, assigned eggs, nest or parental behavior. [D1]
Not established here
The describer leaves the bump’s function unresolved. Its shape does not establish a mating ornament, sex differences or observed courtship. [D2]
Not established here
The current institutional account identifies only one fossil specimen. This provides no living group or parent–young association; focused searches found no genus-specific social evidence. [D5]
Sources and inspection notes for the claims in this profile.
THE STORY IN THE FOSSILS
Relationships with Asian early ceratopsians support a dispersal hypothesis. The Montana skull records an occurrence; it does not record an individual animal crossing a continent. [3]
A complete restored animal is a useful hypothesis. The describers emphasize that unknown limb proportions and tail length must be filled from relatives rather than treated as surviving bones. [5]
The dossier identifies the scope of each reference estimate. A mount, an individual fossil and a species-wide adult range are different measurements. Comparison metrics remain unavailable where adult scope has not been established. Unknown does not mean zero.
Sources support the stated claims and scopes. Refer to the evidence notes for uncertainty.
KEEP EXPLORING
Psittacosaurus
Psittacosaurus was an early ceratopsian widespread in Early Cretaceous Asia. One exceptionally preserved specimen reveals scaly skin, tail bristles and a camouflage pattern.
Archaeoceratops oshimai
Archaeoceratops was a small beaked plant eater with a modest neck frill and a hornless skull.
Triceratops horridus
Triceratops horridus was a horned dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous. Skin impressions attributed to this species reveal scales, while skulls and their positions in rock layers help researchers distinguish it from the later Triceratops prorsus.
