| 释义 |
ceratopsian, a. and n. Palaeontol.
Brit. |ˌsɛrəˈtɒpsɪən|, U.S. |ˌsɛrəˈtɑpsiən|
Forms: 19– ceratopian, 19– ceratopsian
[‹ scientific Latin Ceratopsia (O. C. Marsh 1890, in Amer. Jrnl. Sci.139418; > n. and adj.) + -ia -ia suffix2) + -an suffix.]
A. adj. Belonging to or characteristic of the ornithischian infraorder Ceratopsia, of the Cretaceous period, which comprises herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a parrot-like beak formed by the rostral bone of the upper jaw, and also typically having horns and a bony frill at the back of the skull.
1908Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 24 197 The outer surfaces of all plates are channelled by deep vascular grooves that lead into foramina and resemble the surface markings of a Ceratopsian skull. 1957Encycl. Brit. VII. 391/1 Protoceratops..was a small reptile, in which the frill and other ceratopsian characters were present. 1990J. H. Ostrom & P. Wellnhofer in K. Carpenter & P. J. Currie Dinosaur Systematics (1992) xviii. 251 It seems most probable to us that these numerous ceratopsian specimens represent a random population sample over a short geological interval. 2002G. M. Eberhart Mysterious Creatures I. 165/1 Roy Mackal has proposed a surviving ceratopsian dinosaur like Monoclonius, a quadrupedal herbivore about 18 feet long.
B. n. A dinosaur of the infraorder Ceratopsia; a horned dinosaur.
1908Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 25 392 Many of the injuries are such that none other than a Ceratopsian could have inflicted them. 1933A. S. Romer Vertebr. Paleontol. ix. 204 Recent work in Mongolia has brought to light a small primitive ceratopsian, Protoceratops. 1977A. Hallam Planet Earth 276/3 The ceratopians..were better equipped to defend themselves, for the head of most was armed with rhinoceros-like horns. 2002S. J. Gould Struct. Evolutionary Theory xii. 1332 The ceratopsians died, in concert with all other dinosaurs (leaving the anatomically divergent birds as sole survivors of their monophyletic clade). |