2026年1月7日出版的《自然》杂志发表了匈牙利罗兰大学Attila ?si小组的最新成果，他们研究出白垩纪晚期欧洲隐藏的角龙目恐龙多样性。

本文描述了阿卡角龙的新材料，并进行了系统发育分析，以支持其角龙的亲缘关系。他们的结果出人意料地表明，一些“横纹肌”分类群实际上不是禽龙目，而是角龙目。这表明了欧洲角恐龙的多样性和进化史，而禽龙目和角龙目的共存表明它们的相似性比以前在其他Laurasian生态系统中所认识到的要大得多。他们的研究结果挑战了对鸟臀目恐龙进化的传统认识，并表明需要从根本上重新评估欧洲晚白垩纪食草恐龙的组合。

据介绍，白垩纪晚期的欧洲是一个群岛，其恐龙动物群的特点是岛屿效应，如低多样性、宗教主义和岛屿侏儒。它的恐龙群落包括一个独特的混合群体，这些群体与典型的劳亚人或冈瓦纳人有亲缘关系，也有独特的地方性特征。后者中最主要的是横纹肌类，被认为是早期分支的禽龙类，具有不同寻常的牙齿和颅后特征，从大量但非常不完整的化石遗骸中得知。相比之下，令人费解的是，尽管有角恐龙（角龙目）在当代亚洲和北美的生态系统中无处不在，但却缺乏明确的证据。来自匈牙利晚白垩纪的阿卡角龙被描述为来自欧洲的第一种明确的角龙，但这种鉴定一直存在强烈争议。

附：英文原文

Title: A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe

Author: Maidment, Susannah C. R., Butler, Richard J., Brusatte, Stephen L., Meade, Luke E., Augustin, Felix J., Csiki-Sava, Zoltn, si, Attila

Issue&Volume: 2026-01-07

Abstract: Late Cretaceous Europe was an archipelago with a dinosaur fauna characterized by island effects such as low diversity, relictualism and insular dwarfism1. Its dinosaur communities include a unique mix of groups with typical Laurasian or Gondwanan affinities and distinctive endemics1. Chief among the latter are rhabdodontids, considered to be early-branching iguanodontians characterized by unusual dental and postcranial features and known from abundant but very incomplete fossil remains2,3. By contrast, unequivocal evidence of horned dinosaurs (ceratopsians) is puzzlingly absent4, despite their ubiquitous occurrence in contemporary ecosystems of Asia and North America. Ajkaceratops from the Late Cretaceous of Hungary was described as the first definite ceratopsian from Europe5, but this identification has been strongly disputed4. Here we describe new material of Ajkaceratops and conduct phylogenetic analyses that support its ceratopsian affinities. Our results unexpectedly demonstrate that some ‘rhabdodontid’ taxa are not, in fact, iguanodontians but actually ceratopsians. This suggests a substantial but previously hidden diversity and evolutionary history of European horned dinosaurs, and co-occurrence of iguanodontians and ceratopsians indicates greater similarity than previously appreciated to other Laurasian ecosystems. Our results challenge conventional understanding of ornithischian dinosaur evolution and indicate the need for a fundamental re-evaluation of the Late Cretaceous herbivorous dinosaur assemblages of Europe.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09897-w

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09897-w