Styracoceratops

Styracoceratops
Styracoceratops
Meaning: Pointed Horned Face.
Description: Midsize to large ceratopsian
Species: S. hippocampus
Family: Centrosaurinae, Ceratopsidae
Length: 22-25 feet
Lifestyle: Browser
Range: North America, Eurasia

Distinguishing features: A very powerfully built herbivore, Styracoceratops is a force to be reckoned with. In appearance it has a relatively short frill, whose edge is adorned with 32 horns, a snout with two large nose horns and bony knob between them, and four brow horns and two long cheek tusks to add to the effect. The animal’s head rests on a powerful neck that can move the head fast enough to smash trees. The male is larger than the female, and acts as the patriarch of the herd. The rest of the herd consists of his birth brothers, and their harems of females, which can number up to several dozen per male. Each male gets several females to himself and this prevents infighting. The males establish dominance early on in their development and work together to rule the herd. This only dissolves with the oncoming of the breeding season, when herds mingle together to prevent inbreeding. Young males will test each other at these gatherings, and fights can be very nasty when younger bulls clash against older ones to try and take their harems. After the breeding season, females lay large nests of eggs in large nesting grounds and guard them vigilantly until they hatch. The young will then grow up within the herd and will be expelled once they reach ten years of age.

Habits and Habitat: A creature of the open lands, Styracoceratops often mingles on the outskirts of hadrosaur herds. They will feed on any plant material, but have a very strong preference for ferns and grass. They will also scavenge carrion and take small lizards when they can catch them. Adults have few predators, but the largest dromaeosaurs, V. rexes, and Minosaurs are willing to give them a go, along with the uncommon allosaur. When attacked, they do a typical defense ring where they present the enemy with an array of deadly horns. This defense, while not perfect, is sufficient enough to warn away most predators. In a world where large predators abound, it pays to have a good defense, and the horns of the Styracoceratops are a suitable defense against the throngs of teeth and claws.

A big and very ornery centrosaur. This is what Styracoceratops looks like when its thinking about charging.