ZoomDinosaurs.com Dinosaur and Paleontology Dictionary

STAURIKOSAURUS (pronounced STORE-ee-koh-SAWR-us) Staurikosaurus was a primitive, bipedal (walked on two legs), meat-eating dinosaur. It was a fast runner that had long legs (with five-toed feet), a long tail, and a long body. It had very short arms, a medium-length neck, was about 7 feet (2 m) long, and weighed roughly 50-100 pounds (20-40 kg). This very early theropod lived during the late Triassic period, roughly 231 million to 225 million years ago. Fossils were found in Brazil and Argentina. Staurikosaurus was named by Edwin Colbert in 1970. The type species is S. pricei.

STEGOCERAS (pronounced STEG-oh-CEER-us) Stegoceras (meaning "roofed horn") was a bipedal, herbivorous, dome-headed, plant-eating dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, about 76-65 million years ago. This pachycephalosuar was about 7 ft (2 m) long and lived in what is now Alberta, Canada. The type species is P. validum. Stegoceras was named by paleontologist L. Lambe in 1902.

STEGOSAURIA (pronounced STEG-oh-SAWR-ee-ah) Stegosauria was a group (family) of quadrupedal, plant-eating, ornithischian dinosaurs with two rows of armored plates along their backs and tail spikes. The stegosaurids lived from the Mid-Jurassic to the early Cretaceous. Dacentrus, Kentrosaurus,Stegosaurus, and Wuerhosaurus were stegosaurs.

STEGOSAURUS (pronounced STEG-oh-SAWR-us) Stegosaurus (meaning "roof lizard") was a plant-eating ornithischian dinosaur that had armored plates along its back and tail spikes. It lived during the late Jurassic Period, about 156-140 million years ago.

STEM REPTILE Stem reptiles (aka Captorhinids or Cotylosaurs) are primitive anapsids that led to the reptiles (including dinosaurs and turtles), birds, and mammals. They evolved from amphibians during the Early Carboniferous period, about 340 million years ago and went extinct at the end of the Triassic period, about 250 million years ago. Eggs were laid on the ground, freeing them from the water. They had four sprawling legs and a tail; they ranged in size from about a foot long up to 7-8 ft long. Some were predators, some were herbivores. Class Sauropsida, subclass Anapsida, Infraclass Captorhinida.

STENONYCHOSAURUS (pronounced ste-NON-ik-oh-SAWR-us) Stenonychosaurus (meaning "narrow claw lizard") is an invalid name for Troödon, a smart, human-sized, meat-eating theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period. Stenonychosaurus was named by C. M. Sternberg in 1932; the type species is S. inequalis = Troodon formosus.

STENOPTERYGIUS Stenopterygius was an Ichthyosaur, a dolphin-like reptile about 10 feet (3 m) long and dolphin-like with large eyes. It was from the early-middle Jurassic period in what is now England and Germany. It was not a dinosaur, but another type of extinct reptile.

STERNBERG, CHARLES H. A fossil hunter who found many dinosaurs for E.D. Cope, mostly in Alberta, Canada from 1912-1917. He worked with his sons Charles M., George, and Levi.

STERNBERG, CHARLES M. Charles M. Sternberg (son of Charles H. Sternberg), who collected fossils for E. D. Cope, working mostly in Alberta, Canada from 1912-1917) was a US fossil hunter who named the following dinosaurs: Brachylophosaurus (1953), Edmontonia (1928), Macrophalangia (1932), Montanoceratops (1951), the Pachycephalosaurid family (1945), Pachyrhinosaurus (1950), Parksosaurus (1937), and Stenonychosaurus (1932).

STERNBERG, GEORGE George Sternberg (son of Charles H. Sternberg), found a "mummified" duck-billed dinosaur in Wyoming, USA in 1908.

STERNUM The sternum is the breastbone. In birds, the keeled sternum anchors some flight muscles.

STETHACANTHUS Stethacanthus (also spelled Stethacanthes) is a genus of strange-looking extinct sharks from the Carboniferous and Permian periods. They had brush-like denticles on the head, a large protrusion on the back, fin spines, an anal fin, and were about 3 feet (1 m) long.

STOKESOSAURUS (pronounced STOHK-soh-SAWR-us) Stokesosaurus (meaning "Stokes' lizard") was a meat-eating dinosaur found in Utah, USA. It was about 13.5 feet (4 m) long. Stokesosaurus clevelandi, only known from a very incomplete fossil, dates from the late Jurassic period, about 156 million to 145 million years ago, although some of its skeletal adaptations resemble those of dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous period. Its classification is unsure; if it was a tyrannosaurid, it was by far the earliest one. Stokesosaurus was named by Madsen in 1974.

STRATIGRAPHY Stratigraphy is a method of dating fossils by observing how deeply a fossil is buried. Sedimentary rock layers (strata) are formed episodically as earth is deposited horizontally over time. Newer layers are formed on top of older layers, pressurizing them into rocks. Paleontologists can estimate the amount of time that has passed since the stratum containing the fossil was formed. Generally, deeper rocks and fossils are older than those found above them.

STRATOCLADISTICS Stratocladistics is a method of classifying organisms based upon both cladistics (considering common ancestors with shared anatomical characteristics) together with stratiography (information from the fossil record which lets you know which animals lived earlier or later than others; older fossils are deeper than more recent fossils). In stratocladistics, cladograms are generated in which ancestors preceed their descendants. (see Science, 11th June, Vol 284, 1999)

STRENUSAURUS (pronounced STREN-u-SAWR-us) Strenusaurus (meaning "vigorous lizard") was an early, plant-eating dinosaur that is now called Riojasaurus. Fossils were found in Argentina, South America. Struthiosaurus was named in 1870 by paleontologist Bonaparte in 1969. The type species is S. procerus .

STROMER von REICHENBACH, ERNST Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach (1870-1952) was a paleontologist/geologist from Munich Germany. He found Egyptian dinosaurs between 1911 and 1914, in the Bahariya Oasis 180 miles southwest of Cairo. He found and named: Aegyptosaurus (1932), Bahariasaurus (1934), Carcharodontosaurus (1931), and Spinosaurus (1915). He also named the family of Spinosaurids (1915). The original specimens of these 94-million-year-old dinosaurs were destroyed in the Bayerische Staatssammlung museum when the allies bombed Munich in 1944 (towards the end of WWII).

STRONG SEASONALITY Strong seasonality is when there is a big difference in temperature between the seasons (for example, a hot summer and a cold winter). Compare to low seasonality, in which the difference in temperatures between the seasons is small (with mild winters and summers).

STRUTHIOMIMUS (pronounced STROOTH ee-oh-MEEM-us) Struthiomimus (meaning "ostrich mimic") was an ostrich-like carnivorous dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period (76 million-70 million years ago). It was about 12 feet (3.7 m) long and about 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. It had a long neck, small head with a toothless, horny beak, walked on two strong legs, had long arms, three-fingered hands with curved claws, three-toed feet, large eyes, large brains, and a long tail for balancing. It must have been a very fast runner, like an ostrich. It probably laid eggs and ran in herds. Fossils have been found in North America (Alberta, Canada and New Jersey, USA). It was first discovered in 1914 and named by paleontologist Henry F. Osborn in 1916.

STRUTHIOSAURUS (pronounced STROO-thee-oh-SAWR-us) Struthiosaurus (meaning "ostrich lizard") was a small, armored, quadrupedal, plant-eating dinosaur. Struthiosaurus was about 7 feet (2 m) long) and lived during the very late Cretaceous period, about 83 million-65 million years ago. Struthiosaurus is the smallest-known nodosaurid ankylosaur. This armored Ornithischian had no tail club. Very incomplete fossils have been found in Austria (S. austriacus) and Romania (S. transilvanicus), where is was isolated on small islands during the Cretaceous. It may have been the last of the European nodosauurids. Struthiosaurus was named in 1870 by paleontologist Bunzel. The type species is S. austriacus.

STYGIMOLOCH (pronounced STIJ-eh-MOLL-uk) Stygimoloch (meaning "demon from the river Styx") was a bipedal, plant-eating dinosaur with very strange, demonic-looking, spikes and bumps on its skull. The many horns ranged up to 4 inches (100 mm) long. Stygimoloch was about 7-10 feet (2-3 m) long and weighed roughly 170 pounds (78 kg). This pachycphalosaurid dinosaur lived during the very late Cretaceous period, about 68 million-65 million years ago. Only parts of Stygimoloch's skull have been found - in Montana and Wyoming, USA. Stygimoloch belongs to to the family Pachycephalosauridae, Ornithischian dinosaurs that had thick, domed, spiked skulls. Pachycephalosaurs probably engaged in head-butting as both a defense and as intra-species rivalry. Stygimoloch was named in 1983 by British paleontologist Peter M. Galton and German paleontologist Hans-Dieter Sues.

STYGIVENATOR (pronounced STIJ-eh-veh-NEH-tor) Stygivenator (meaning "River in Hell Hunter") was a bipedal, meat-eating dinosaur (a tyrannosaurid theropod). It may be the same as Aublysodon; it was known as the "Jordan theropod." Stygivenator was roughly 1.5 feet (4.5 m) long) and lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 68 million-65 million years ago. A partial skull was found in the Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA. The type species is S. molnari. Stygivenator was named in 1995 by paleontologist Olshevsky.

STYRACOSAURUS (pronounced sty-RACK-oh-SAWR-us) Styracosaurus (meaning "spike lizard") was a plant-eating ceratopsian dinosaur that had a horned frill and a huge nose horn. It was about 18 feet (5 1/4 m) long and weighed about 2-3 tons. It lived during the late Cretaceous period, roughly 77 million to 73 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Montana, USA and Alberta, Canada. Styracosaurus was named by Lambe in 1913. The type species is S. albertensis.

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