Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
227 / Mesozoic
Styracosaurus
Styracosaurus albertensis
A huge nasal horn and long spikes radiating from the frill made one of the most dramatic ceratopsian heads.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 76.5–75 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Coastal plains · Alberta, Canada
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Styracosaurus?
Styracosaurus (Styracosaurus albertensis) was an extinct organism known from About 76.5–75 million years ago, with a range in Coastal plains · Alberta, Canada.
Life and ecology
Styracosaurus cropped low plants with a beak and dental batteries. Horns likely combined display, recognition and defense; bonebeds record group accumulation.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Styracosaurus disappear?
Its record ends before the Cretaceous closed, amid retreating seaways, changing rivers and ceratopsian turnover; these are context, not a demonstrated cause.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Styracosaurus?
Numerous skulls, bonebeds and growth stages show variation in frill spikes, while worn teeth reveal intensive feeding.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS