A new ceratopsian dinosaur from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of West Texas and implications for chasmosaurine phylogeny

Bravoceratops polyphemus gen. et sp. nov. is a large chasmosaurine ceratopsid from the lowermost part of the Javelina Formation (early Maastrichtian) of Big Bend National Park, TX, USA. B. polyphemus has a distinctive narrow snout, a long fenestrate frill, and a fan-shaped median parietal bar with a midline epiparietal on its posterior margin, as well as a symmetrical depression on its dorsal surface at the nexus of the parietal rami. This depression is interpreted to be the attachment point for a second midline epiparietal. This parietal morphology is distinct from that exhibited by Anchiceratops or Pentaceratops. The posterior midline epiparietal in B. polyphemus and its bifurcated quadratojugal–squamosal joint are features shared with the most derived chasmosaurines, Torosaurus and Triceratops. The combination of primitive and derived traits exhibited by B. polyphemus, and its stratigraphic position, is compatible with the gradual transition from basal, to intermediate, to derived chasmosaurines observed throughout the western interior of North America, and with phylogenetic analysis, which suggests that Bravoceratops may be closely related to Coahuilaceratops.