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# protoceratops

noun (a Protoceratops, Protoceratops)

«protoceratops» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

A small plant-eating dinosaur from Mongolia and China, about the size of a sheep, with a parrot-like beak and a bony frill at the back of its head; it lived about 75 million years ago. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#m1)

### In the lessons

In dinosaur lessons, Protoceratops is an early relative of Triceratops but had no big horns. A famous fossil shows a Protoceratops and a Velociraptor locked in a fight. Some think Protoceratops skulls found by ancient travellers helped start the legend of the griffin. Phrases: «Protoceratops fossil», «fighting dinosaurs», «Gobi Desert».

### Examples

- Protoceratops had a beak like a parrot. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#x1)
- A Protoceratops was about as big as a sheep. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#x2)
- The famous fossil shows a Protoceratops fighting a Velociraptor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#x3)
- Protoceratops lived in the Gobi Desert. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#x4)
- Protoceratops ate plants. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#x5)
- Scientists found Protoceratops nests and eggs. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/#x6)

### Note

Usually written with a capital P as a scientific name; plural the same. Pronounced pro-toe-SERR-a-tops; means «first horned face». Trap: the griffin link is an idea some historians suggest, not a proven fact. Do not confuse with Triceratops (bigger, three horns).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «protoceratops» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/protoceratops/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«protoceratops» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/protoceratops.html) on Mova free.