About
Diabloceratops eatoni was a medium-sized dinosaur that roamed the lush, subtropical forests of southern Laramidia approximately 79 million years ago. Its most striking feature was a pair of long, curved horns that swept backward from the top of its elaborate neck , giving it a devilish appearance that inspired its dramatic name. Unlike its later relatives like Triceratops, Diabloceratops had relatively small brow horns above its eyes, while its nasal horn was modest in size.
The frill of Diabloceratops was adorned with smaller hornlets along its edges, creating an impressive structure likely used for species recognition and mate selection. As a herbivore, it possessed a parrot-like beak and rows of shearing teeth perfect for processing the tough cycads, ferns, and flowering plants of its ecosystem.
Discovered in the Wahweap Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, Diabloceratops represents one of the oldest and most basal centrosaurine ceratopsids known from North America. Its discovery in 2002 by paleontologist Don DeBlieux filled a significant gap in the ceratopsid fossil record, demonstrating that centrosaurines had already diversified into distinctive forms by the late Campanian age. The species name honors Jeffrey Eaton, who made substantial contributions to understanding the paleontology of southern Utah.
Explore the anatomy
4 featuresTwo long, curved horns sweep backward from the top of the neck frill — the feature that gave this dinosaur its 'devil' name. These dramatic spikes were bigger than in most of its relatives and probably helped Diabloceratops recognize others of its own kind in a world full of different horned dinosaurs.
A single, fairly small horn sat on the middle of the snout. Since it's pretty modest compared to that wild frill, scientists think showing off to other dinosaurs — not fighting — was probably the main point of all that fancy headgear.
The front of the skull ended in a sharp, toothless beak made of the same stuff as your fingernails. It worked like plant-clippers, snipping off tough leaves and cycad fronds before rows of slicing teeth further back in the mouth finished the job.
The rim of the neck frill was lined with a row of smaller pointy hornlets, giving it a jagged, crown-like border. In life, skin and possibly bright colors would have covered these spikes, making the frill look even more impressive than the bare bones suggest.
Where fossils were found
Kaiparowits Formation
Utah · United States
79.9–75.9 million years ago(4m year span)
Where Devil Horned Face Roamed
During the Late Cretaceous, *Diabloceratops eatoni* inhabited the lush coastal lowlands along the western shore of the Western Interior Seaway, a vast epicontinental sea that divided North America into two landmasses. This region, part of the island continent Laramidia, featured a warm, humid subtropical climate with extensive floodplains, meandering rivers, and dense vegetation that supported a diverse community of dinosaurs.
Keep exploring the vault
Kosmoceratops
Kosmoceratops richardsoni
Both ceratopsids from the Kaiparowits Formation with overlapping size ranges (Diabloceratops 1500kg, Kosmoceratops 1200kg), competing for similar low-browse vegetation.
Centrosaurus
Centrosaurus apertus
Both centrosaurine ceratopsids that independently evolved elaborate nasal horn structures and frill ornamentation.
Pachyrhinosaurus
Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis
Same family: Ceratopsidae
Pentaceratops
Pentaceratops sternbergii
Same family: Ceratopsidae
Sinoceratops
Sinoceratops zhuchengensis
Same family: Ceratopsidae
Styracosaurus
Styracosaurus albertensis
Both centrosaurine ceratopsids exploring the evolutionary theme of elaborate frill spikes and horn ornamentation.