Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus (“spiked reptile") was an herbivorous dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. It had six long horns extending from its neck frill, a smaller horn above each of its eyes, and a single horn protruding from its nose at 60 centimeters (2 feet) long and 15 centimeters (6 inches) wide. It was a huge dinosaur, reaching lengths of 5 meters (18 feet) and weighing as much as 3 tons. It stood about 1.8 meters (6 feet) tall.

Styracosaurus Dinosaur

The first fossil remains of Styracosaurus were discovered in Alberta, Canada in 1913, in an area now known as the Dinosaur Provincial Park. The Styracosaurus possessed four short legs and a bulky body, and was almost surely able to achieve speeds of up to 32 kilometers per hour (20 miles per hour). Its tail was rather short. It also had a beak and cheek teeth, representative that its diet was herbivorous and composed mostly of cycads, palms, and other prehistoric plants.

Like other ceratopsians, this dinosaur was most probable a herd animal, traveling in large groups and caring for its young after they hatched. Further proof of this exists in the discovery of a bonebed in Arizona, USA with about 100 Styracosaurus fossils.

According to its Encephalization Quotient (brain to body weight ratio), the Styracosaurus was of middle intelligence.