A new specimen of Liaoceratops yanzigouensis (Dinosauria: neoceratopsia) from the early cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China

A new specimen of basal neoceratopsian dinosaur Liaoceratops yanzigouensis is described. The specimen comes from the Lujiatun Bed of the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation in Beipiao City of western Liaoning Province, and is represented by a very well preserved three-dimensional partial skull and mandible. It is also the smallest among the three specimens of L. yanzigouensis, and several features in the new specimen, such as the short preorbital length and the round rostroventral orbital rim, can be ontogenetically-related. The superb exposure of the palatal complex may be caused by the removing of its brain by a small predator in the contemporary Jehol Biota.