Triceratops
The most popular and well known of the horned dinosaurs, and one of the most recognizable of all the dinosaurs, Triceratops remains a favorite of kids and adults alike!
Order: Ornithischia
Suborder: Ceratopsia
Family: Ceratopsidae
Genus: Triceratops (“Three Horned Face”)
Species: T. horridus, T. prorsus
Though often depicted in movies and books as traveling in herds, there currently is not a lot of evidence that supports Triceratops being a herding animal. Most skeletons have been found individually.
Triceratops ate plants, using their beak to grasp low-level plants. It had between 400 and 800 teeth to help it chow down on lots of plants.
How its horns and frill were used remains a topic of much conversation among scientists. There is evidence that Triceratops used its horns as a means of protection from predators, which included Tyrannosaurus rex. There is also some evidence that might point to the horns being used in combat with other Triceratops, possibly in order to impress mates.
The frill is believed by many scientists to serve the primary function of attracting mates. This would explain the wide variation between frill shape and size among different ceratopsian species, including Diabloceratops, Vagaceratops, Styracosaurus and more.
Triceratops was a large, plant-eating dinosaur with characteristics typical of the ceratopsians – a stout, four-legged body, a large head with a shield-like neck frill, a pronounced beak, and facial horns. As the name Triceratops (Three-Horned Face) implies, this dinosaur had two long horns above its brows, and one shorter horn on its now. Its head was huge, measuring almost a third of the dinosaur’s entire length when full grown.
Length: 9 meters (30 feet)
Weight: 5-9 metric tons (5.5-9.9 short tons)
Triceratops lived up until the extinction of the non-bird dinosaurs, which occurred around 66 million years ago. It had a wide range across many areas of North America. It lived alongside many other dinosaurs including Dakotaraptor, Tyrannosaurus rex, Ornithomimus, Anzu, Ankylosaurus, Edmontosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Dracorex, and even other ceratopsians like Torosaurus (although some scientists believe this may be a growth stage of Triceratops).
The first remains of Triceratops, which mainly consisted of its iconic horns, were discovered by a man named George Lyman Cannon in 1887.Othniel Charles Marsh, after studying the horns, originally believed they belong to a prehistoric bison. However, as more complete skull material was discovered, he eventually realized this was a new type of horned dinosaur.
References:
1. Paul, G. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, 2nd Edition. Princeton, New Jersey: University Press Princeton.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triceratops
Safari Ltd Triceratops Toys:
Wild Safari Prehistoric World Triceratops Figure (100153)
Wild Safari Prehistoric World Triceratops Figure (284529)
Great Dinos Triceratops Figure
Dino Dana Triceratops Baby in Egg Figure with Augmented Reality