DinoDex
Brown horned dinosaur with a long nose horn and spikes around its frill, walking in side view
Life reconstruction of Styracosaurus albertensis.Image credit: Connor Ashbridge, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0Source (opens in a new tab)

Styracosaurus albertensis

Pronounced sty-RAK-oh-SORE-us al-ber-TEN-sis

Ceratopsia · Ceratopsidae

A horned dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, with a long nose horn and a crown of long spikes on its neck frill. About 5 to 5.5 m long, it browsed low plants on the coastal plains of the Dinosaur Park Formation.

  • Horned
  • Quadrupedal
Compare
Period
Cretaceous· Campanian
Diet
Herbivore
Length
5–5.5 m
Mass
1,800–2,700 kg
Location
Alberta, Canada

Quick answers

How big was Styracosaurus albertensis?
Styracosaurus albertensis was about 5–5.5 m long. It stood about 1.8 m tall at the hips. It weighed about 1.8–2.7 t. (Wikipedia: Styracosaurus 2026)
When did Styracosaurus albertensis live?
Styracosaurus albertensis lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 75.8–75.1 million years ago. (Paleobiology Database: Styracosaurus alberten… 2026; Eberth et al. 2023)
Where have Styracosaurus albertensis fossils been found?
Fossils of Styracosaurus albertensis have been found in Dinosaur Park Formation (Alberta) and Canada. (Lambe 1913; Ryan et al. 2007)
What did Styracosaurus albertensis eat?
Styracosaurus albertensis was a herbivore. (Lambe 1913; Ryan et al. 2007)
Who named Styracosaurus albertensis, and when?
Styracosaurus albertensis was described by Lawrence M. Lambe in 1913. (Lambe 1913; Paleobiology Database: Styracosaurus alberten… 2026)

On this page

Period
Cretaceous75.8–75.1 Ma
Diet
Herbivore
Length
5–5.5 m
Mass
1.8–2.7 t
Location
Canada
Classification
Ceratopsia · Ceratopsidae
Described
1913, Lawrence M. Lambe

Overview

Styracosaurus albertensis lived about 75 million years ago on the coastal plains of what is now southern Alberta, Canada. Charles H. Sternberg found its first skull on the Red Deer River in 1913, and Lawrence Lambe named it the same year; the rest of the skeleton was dug out of the same quarry in 1935.

It was a centrosaurine ceratopsid, a relative of Centrosaurus and more distantly of Triceratops, with a single long nose horn, small brow horns and four to six long spikes along the back of its frill. A subadult skull described by Brown, Holmes and Currie (2020) shows that the frill spikes grew much longer and thicker as the animal matured, while their position stayed the same.

Its beak and rows of shearing cheek teeth were suited to slicing tough plants. Styracosaurus is relatively rare in the Dinosaur Park Formation, where it lived alongside other horned dinosaurs, duck-billed hadrosaurs and tyrannosaurs such as Gorgosaurus.

Name meaning

"Spiked lizard", from Greek styrax (the spike at the butt of a spear) and sauros; albertensis for the province of Alberta (Lambe 1913).

Biology & evidence

What scientists think about how this animal lived, and how strong the evidence for each idea is.

Growth

  • The frill spikes of Styracosaurus grew much longer as it matured.

    Evidence level: Strong evidence

    Young skulls have short, flat, triangular spikes; in adults they are long and thick, while their position on the frill stays the same.

    Evidence for / against · 1
    Evidence for

    • Specimen · Subadult Styracosaurus skull and growth series

      A complete skull of the smallest known Styracosaurus (about 80% adult size) compared with adult skulls and bonebed material: the parietal spikes lengthen and thicken through growth but keep their position.

Behavior

  • The horns and frill of Styracosaurus were used mainly for display.

    Evidence level: Hypothesis

    Their late growth and variability fit signalling to other Styracosaurus; defence and combat have also been proposed.

    Evidence for / against · 1
    Evidence for

    • Specimen · Subadult Styracosaurus skull and growth series

      A complete skull of the smallest known Styracosaurus (about 80% adult size) compared with adult skulls and bonebed material: the parietal spikes lengthen and thicken through growth but keep their position.

Social life

  • Styracosaurus lived in herds.

    Evidence level: Hypothesis

    Bonebeds of several individuals suggest group living, as in other centrosaurines, but they can also form by other causes.

    Evidence for / against · 1
    Evidence for

    • Specimen · Styracosaurus bonebed

      A bonebed with remains of several individuals in the Dinosaur Park Formation.

Size

Length
5–5.5 m

(18 ft)

Height
1.8 m

(5.9 ft)

Mass
1,800–2,700 kg
Styracosaurus albertensis was about 5.5 m (18 ft) long, roughly 3.1 times the height of a 1.8 m adult human.

Timeline

Lived from about 75.8 to 75.1 million years ago (Ma), within the Mesozoic era (252–66 Ma).

Periods: Campanian (83.6–72.1 Ma), Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma)

Prosaurolophus maximus-Styracosaurus albertensis assemblage zone of the Dinosaur Park Formation, 75.77-75.10 Ma (U-Pb age model, Eberth et al. 2023); the Onefour specimens fall within the same range. The whole formation spans 76.47-74.44 Ma.

Location

Formations

Map data: Natural Earth (public domain). Modern positions, not where the continents were then.

These are the places where fossils have been found, not the full area where the animal lived.

Ecosystem

Lived in: Dinosaur Park

76.5–74.4 million years ago · floodplain, coastal plain, river system

Late Campanian alluvial and coastal plains on the western shore of the Western Interior Seaway, in what is now southern Alberta.

Same ecosystem

Parasaurolophus walkeri

Cretaceous· CampanianHerbivore

Same ecosystem

Troodon formosus

Cretaceous· CampanianCarnivoreOmnivore

Same ecosystem

Gorgosaurus libratus

Cretaceous· CampanianCarnivore

Classification

  1. cladeDinosauria
  2. cladeOrnithischia
  3. cladeCeratopsia
  4. familyCeratopsidae
  5. subfamilyCentrosaurinae
  6. genusStyracosaurus
  7. speciesStyracosaurus albertensis

Taxonomic status: Valid

Fossil record

Styracosaurus albertensis mount incorporating a cast of the holotype CMN 344, at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa.Image credit: Neil Pezzoni, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, Canadian Museum of NatureCC BY 4.0Source (opens in a new tab)
Specimens
Catalog numberStatusInstitutionFound
CMN 344HolotypeCanadian Museum of Nature (CMN)1913

What has been found

Holotype: CMN 344

  • Preserved
  • Partial
  • Reconstructed
  • Unknown / not recorded
Region by region (table)
Skeleton regions of Holotype: CMN 344
RegionState
SkullPreserved
MandiblePreserved
TeethUnknown / not recorded
Cervical vertebraeUnknown / not recorded
Dorsal vertebraeUnknown / not recorded
SacrumUnknown / not recorded
Caudal vertebraeUnknown / not recorded
RibsUnknown / not recorded
GastraliaUnknown / not recorded
Scapula / shoulder girdleUnknown / not recorded
HumerusUnknown / not recorded
Forearm (radius / ulna)Unknown / not recorded
Hand (manus)Unknown / not recorded
PelvisUnknown / not recorded
FemurUnknown / not recorded
Tibia / fibulaUnknown / not recorded
Foot (pes)Unknown / not recorded
Left lateral view of the skull and lower jaws of Styracosaurus albertensis AMNH 5372 at the American Museum of Natural History.Image credit: WehaveaTrex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (unmodified except resizing), American Museum of Natural HistoryCC BY-SA 4.0 (unmodified)Source (opens in a new tab)

All specimens

Discovery

Year described
1913
Described by
Lawrence M. Lambe
Type specimen
CMN 344

Discovery timeline

  1. 1913 · Formally described

    Lambe names Styracosaurus albertensis

    Lawrence Lambe names the "spiked lizard" in The Ottawa Naturalist.

    People: Lawrence M. Lambe

  2. 1913 · First material found

    Charles H. Sternberg finds the Styracosaurus skull

    A nearly complete skull is found on the Red Deer River during a Geological Survey of Canada expedition.

    People: Charles H. Sternberg

  3. 1935 · Specimen recovered

    Rest of the Styracosaurus type skeleton excavated

    Levi Sternberg returns to the quarry and collects the lower jaw and skeleton of the same individual.

    People: Levi Sternberg

  4. 2020 · Major study

    Subadult Styracosaurus described

    Brown, Holmes and Currie describe the smallest known Styracosaurus and its growth.

    People: Caleb M. Brown

Sources

  1. (2026). Paleobiology Database: Styracosaurus albertensis occurrences and type collection 52487. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?taxon_name=Styracosaurus%20albertensis&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates (opens in a new tab)
  2. (2026). Wikipedia: Styracosaurus. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styracosaurus (opens in a new tab)
  3. Brown, C. M., Holmes, R. & Currie, P. J. (2020). A subadult individual of Styracosaurus albertensis (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae) with comments on ontogeny and intraspecific variation in Styracosaurus. Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology 8: 67-95. doi:10.18435/vamp29361 (opens in a new tab)
  4. Eberth, D. A., Evans, D. C., Ramezani, J., Kamo, S. L., Brown, C. M., Currie, P. J. & Braman, D. R. (2023). Calibrating geologic strata, dinosaurs, and other fossils at Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta, Canada) using a new CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb geochronology. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. doi:10.1139/cjes-2023-0037 (opens in a new tab)
  5. Lambe, L. M. (1913). A new genus and species of Ceratopsia from the Belly River Formation of Alberta. The Ottawa Naturalist 27(9): 109-116.
  6. Ryan, M. J., Holmes, R. & Russell, A. P. (2007). A revision of the late Campanian centrosaurine ceratopsid genus Styracosaurus from the Western Interior of North America. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 944-962. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[944:AROTLC]2.0.CO;2 (opens in a new tab)