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Glite Dictionary
Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus

9.9
A large horned dinosaur with a big frill and a long nose horn
  • noun
  • /ˌstaɪrəˈkoʊsɔrəs/
  • Specialized
: Styracosaurus
  • During the Late Cretaceous period, the Styracosaurus roamed the earth with its distinctive nasal horn and frill.

Examples

  • Paleontologists believe the Styracosaurus used its impressive horns for defense against predators.

  • It's a styracosaurus of the cretaceous group.

    The Land That Time Forgot (1974)

  • Fossils of the Styracosaurus show that it had a large frill decorated with several horns.

Synonyms

styracosaur
vsStyracosaurus
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A large horned dinosaur with one long nose horn and many big spikes on the edge of its head plate

emphasizes a large frill and one prominent nasal horn rather than many frill spikes

Surface Forms

Styracosaurus singular
Styracosauruses plural

Morphology

Styracosaurus = styraco + saurus

This is a classical scientific coinage with the dinosaur element 'saurus', but the first element is not a productive or familiar English morpheme for most learners.

Etymology

Styracosaurus comes from the Greek part styrakos meaning 'spike' and -saurus meaning 'lizard', the same -saurus you see in dinosaur. It was named for its big horn and the long spikes on its frill, so the name helps you picture a 'spike lizard'.