Editing Protoceratops (section)

===Bayan Mandahu Formation===
[[File:Protoceratops in Bayan Mandahu.png|thumb|left|Restoration of a ''P. hellenikorhinus'' pair in the Bayan Mandahu Formation]]
Based on general similarities between the vertebrate fauna and sediments of Bayan Mandahu and the Djadokhta Formation, the [[Bayan Mandahu Formation]] is considered to be [[Late Cretaceous]] in age, roughly [[Campanian]]. The dominant [[lithology]] is reddish-brown, poorly cemented, fine grained [[sandstone]] with some [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerate]], and [[caliche]]. Other facies include [[alluvial]] (stream-deposited) and [[Aeolian processes|eolian]] (wind-deposited) [[sediment]]s. It is likely that sediments at Bayan Mandahu were deposited by short-lived rivers and lakes on an alluvial plain (flat land consisting of sediments deposited by highland rivers) with a combination of [[dune]] field paleoenvironments, under a [[semi-arid climate]]. The formation is known for its vertebrate fossils in life-like poses, most of which are preserved in unstructured sandstone, indicating a catastrophic rapid burial.<ref name=Jerzykiewiczz1993/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eberth|first1=D. A.|date=1993|title=Depositional environments and facies transitions of dinosaur-bearing Upper Cretaceous redbeds at Bayan Mandahu (Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China)|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=30|number=10|pages=2196–2213|doi=10.1139/e93-191|bibcode=1993CaJES..30.2196E }}</ref>

The [[Fauna|paleofauna]] of Bayan Mandahu is very similar in composition to the nearby Djadokhta Formation, with both formations sharing several of the same genera, but differing in the exact species. In this formation, ''P. hellenikorhinus'' is the representative species, and it shared its paleoenvironment with numerous dinosaurs such as [[dromaeosaurid]]s ''[[Linheraptor]]'' and ''[[Velociraptor]] osmolskae'';<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Godefroit|first1=P.|last2=Currie|first2=P. J.|last3=Li|first3=H.|last4=Shang|first4=C. Y.|last5=Dong|first5=Z.-M.|date=2008|title=A new species of Velociraptor (Dinosauria: Dromaeosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of northern China|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=28|issue=2|pages=432–438|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[432:ANSOVD]2.0.CO;2|jstor=20490961|s2cid=129414074 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Xing|first1=X.|last2=Choinere|first2=J. N.|last3=Pittman|first3=M.|last4=Tan|first4=Q. W.|last5=Xiao|first5=D.|last6=Li|first6=Z. Q.|last7=Tan|first7=L.|last8=Clark|first8=J. M.|last9=Norell|first9=M. A.|last10=Hone|first10=D. W. E|last11=Sullivan|first11=C.|date= 2010|title=A new dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Wulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, China|journal=Zootaxa|volume=2403|number=1|pages=1–9|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2403.1.1|doi-access=free|url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/zt02403p009.pdf}}</ref> [[oviraptorids]] ''[[Machairasaurus]]'' and ''[[Wulatelong]]'';<ref name=Longrich2010/><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Xing|first1=X.|last2=Qing-Wei|first2=T.|last3=Shuo|first3=W.|last4=Sullivan|first4=C.|last5=Hone|first5=D. W. E.|last6=Feng-Lu|first6=H.|last7=Qing-Yu|first7=M.|last8=Lin|first8=T.|last9=Dong|first9=T.|date=2013|title=A new oviraptorid from the Upper Cretaceous of Nei Mongol,China, and its stratigraphic implications|journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica|volume=51|issue=2|pages=85–101|url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/201305/P020130507385115746165.pdf}}</ref> and [[troodontid]]s ''[[Linhevenator]]'', ''[[Papiliovenator]]'', and ''[[Philovenator]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pei|first1=R.|last2=Qin|first2=Yuying|last3=Wen|first3=Aishu|last4=Zhao|first4=Q.|last5=Wang|first5=Z.|last6=Liu|first6=Z.|last7=Guo|first7=W.|last8=Liu|first8=P.|last9=Ye|first9=W.|last10=Wang|first10=L.|last11=Yin|first11=Z.|last12=Dai|first12=R.|last13=Xu|first13=X.|date=2022|title=A new troodontid from the Upper Cretaceous Gobi Basin of inner Mongolia, China|journal=Cretaceous Research|volume=130|number=105052|page=105052 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105052|bibcode=2022CrRes.13005052P |s2cid=244186762 }}</ref> Other dinosaur members include the [[alvarezsaurid]] ''[[Linhenykus]]'';<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Xing|first1=X.|last2=Sullivan|first2=Corwin|last3=Pittman|first3=M.|last4=Choiniere|first4=J. N.|last5=Hone|first5=D. W. E.|last6=Upchurch|first6=P.|last7=Tan|first7=Q.|last8=Xiao|first8=Dong|last9=Lin|first9=Tan|last10=Han|first10=F.|date=2011 |title=A monodactyl nonavian dinosaur and the complex evolution of the alvarezsauroid hand|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=108|number=6|pages=2338–2342|bibcode=2011PNAS..108.2338X|doi=10.1073/pnas.1011052108|doi-access=free|pmc=3038769|pmid=21262806}}</ref> [[ankylosaurid]] ''[[Pinacosaurus]] mephistocephalus'';<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Godefroit|first1=P.|last2=Pereda-Suberbiola|first2=X.|last3=Li|first3=H.|last4=Dong|first4=Z. M.|date=1999|title=A new species of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Pinacosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P.R. China)|journal=Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre|volume=69|issue=supp. B|pages=17–36|url=http://biblio.naturalsciences.be/rbins-publications/bulletin-of-the-royal-belgian-institute-of-natural-sciences-earth-sciences/69-sup-b-1999/bulletin69supb-article2.pdf}}</ref><ref name=CurrieP2011>{{cite journal|last1=Currie|first1=P. J.|last2=Badamgarav|first2=D.|last3=Koppelhus|first3=E. B.|last4=Sissons|first4=R.|last5=Vickaryous|first5=M. K.|date=2011|title=Hands, feet and behaviour in Pinacosaurus (Dinosauria: Ankylosauridae)|journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica|volume=56|issue=3|pages=489–504|doi=10.4202/app.2010.0055|s2cid=129291148|doi-access=free|url=http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app56/app20100055.pdf}}</ref> and closely related [[protoceratopsid]] ''[[Bagaceratops]]''.<ref name=Czepiński19/> Additional fauna from this unit comprises [[nanhsiungchelyid]]s turtles,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brinkman|first1=D. B.|last2=Tong|first2=H.-Y.|last3=Li|first3=H.|last4=Sun|first4=Y.|last5=Zhang|first5=J.-S.|last6=Godefroit|first6=P.|last7=Zhang|first7=Z.-M.|date=2015|title=New exceptionally well-preserved specimens of "Zangerlia" neimongolensis from Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, and their taxonomic significance|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol|volume=14|issue=6–7|pages=577–587|doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2014.12.005|bibcode=2015CRPal..14..577B |doi-access=free}}</ref> and a variety of [[squamates]] and [[mammal]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gao|first1=K.|last2=Hou|first2=L.|date=1996|title=Systematics and taxonomic diversity of squamates from the Upper Cretaceous Djadochta Formation, Bayan Mandahu, Gobi Desert, People's Republic of China|journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences|volume=33|issue=4|pages=578–598|bibcode=1996CaJES..33..578G|doi=10.1139/e96-043}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wible|first1=J. R.|last2=Shelley|first2=S. L.|last3=Bi|first3=S.|date=2019|title=New Genus and Species of Djadochtatheriid Multituberculate (Allotheria, Mammalia) from the Upper Cretaceous Bayan Mandahu Formation of Inner Mongolia|journal=Annals of Carnegie Museum|volume=85|issue=4|pages=285–327|doi=10.2992/007.085.0401|bibcode=2019AnCM...85..285W |s2cid=210840006|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338202993}}</ref>