Ojoceratops is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of ceratopsia

Ceratopsia

Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...

n dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 which lived in what is now New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

. Ojoceratops fossils have been recovered from strata of the Ojo Alamo Formation

Ojo Alamo Formation

The Ojo Alamo Formation is a geologic formation spanning the Mesozoic/Cenozoic boundary. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, though all dinosaur remains come from the lowest part of the formation, the Naashoibito member The Ojo Alamo Formation is a...

 (Naashoibito Member), dating to the late Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 period (probably early Maasrichtian age, 70 million years ago). The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is Ojoceratops fowleri. It is very similar to its close relative Triceratops

Triceratops

Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...

, though it is from an earlier time period and has a more squared-off frill. Nick Longrich, in 2011, noted that the squared-off frill is also found in some true Triceratops specimens and that Ojoceratops is probably a junior synonym of Triceratops, while Holtz (2010) noted that it is probably ancestral to Triceratops and possibly synonymous with the contemporary Eotriceratops

Eotriceratops

Eotriceratops is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur which lived during the late Cretaceous period. Its fossils have been found in the uppermost Horseshoe Canyon Formation, dating to about 67.6 million years ago. Its skull is reported to have been around 3 metres long...

. It is estimated to have reached about 9 metres (29.5 ft) in length.