Micropachycephalosaurus

Name:
Micropachycephalosaurus (Greek for "tiny thick-headed lizard"); pronounced MY-cro-PACK-ee-SEFF-ah-low-SORE-us
Habitat:
Woodlands of Asia
Historical Period:
Late Cretaceous (80-70 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 2 feet long and 5-10 pounds
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Small size; thick skull
About Micropachycephalosaurus:

The name Micropachycephalosaurus may seem like a mouthful, but it's not so bad if you break it down into its constituent Greek words: micro, pachy, cephalo, saurus. That translates into "tiny thick-headed lizard," and fittingly, Micropachycephalosaurus is the smallest of all the known pachycephalosaurs (otherwise known as boneheads). For the record, the dinosaur with the shortest name--Mei--was also bite-sized; make of that what you will!

Because Micropachycephalosaurus has been reconstructed from incomplete remains dug up in China, the possibility looms that this genus may one day be "downgraded"--that is, paleontologists will agree that it's another type of pachycephalosaur entirely (recently, experts figured out that the shape of pachycephalosaur skulls changed as these dinosaurs aged, makes classification mistakes all the more likely). If that happens, some other multisyllabic dinosaur (possibly Brachytrachelopan) will rise up to assume the "world's longest name" title.