Triceratops
Triceratops horridus
Pronounced:
try -
Sair - o
- tops
Diet:
Herbivore
(Plant-Eater)
Name
Means:
"three
horn
face"
Length:
28 feet
(9 m)
Height:
8 feet
(2.7 m)
Weight:
7 tons
(12,000
kilos)
Time:
Late
Cretaceous
- 65 MYA
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in Western North America
One of the top three on everyone's favorite dinosaur list, Triceratops is a very common dinosaur which lived at the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs. It had a huge frilled head with horns over each eye that could reach over 4 feet long. Triceratops had a third, smaller horn on its nose. These would be fearsome weapons against a predator.
Triceratops
is one of
the most
common
dinosaur
fossils
found. More
than 50
skulls have
been found.
Within the
genus, at
least 7
species have
been
identified.
The
ceratopsian
family is
one of the
most
successful
and varied
of the Late
Cretaceous.
Triceratops
is the
largest
member of
this family,
reaching the
size of a
school bus.
Triceratops
was a herd
animal; it
is believed
that large
groups
roamed North
America.
Their large,
horny beaks
and long
rows of
teeth were
well
designed for
chewing the
tough, low
growing
plants of
the Late
Cretaceous.
It was
likely the
main
predator of
these
animals was
T. rex. A
number of
skeletons
show bite
and chew
marks that
match the
teeth of T.
rex. Horns
and frills
seemed to
vary among
individuals
within the
species.
Some frills
were very
broad,
others
narrow. The
nasal horn
shows the
most
variance
among
individual
specimens,
no two being
the same.
The material
that covered
its horns in
life would
have added
significantly
to the
length of
the
fossilized
bone. |
