Revisiting Aquilops and Pentaceratops at the Sam Noble Museum

One reason I was so happy to be invited to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History to talk about horned dinosaurs is because the museum has two of the coolest ones on display: Aquilops, the smallest and earliest ceratopsian in North America, and Pentaceratops, one of the largest and latest. Naturally I had to check in on my baby, and its rather more imposing relative. Here’s the Aquilops exhibit without any big hairy mammal heads mucking up the view. The skull of Aquilops in three versions: the actual holotype fossil down below, a reconstruction of the distorted skull with the missing bits sculpted in by preparator and reptile-reconstructor extraordinaire Kyle Davies (see more of his work here), and a reconstruction of the skull as it might have looked before it went through the ravages of taphonomy. And the holotype skull, OMNH 34557, by itself. If you’re wondering why I’m making with so many photos, it’s because my last attempt, 10 years ago, was not without criticism. I…