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Table of Contents
Triceratops is a herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that formerly roamed present-day North America roughly 68 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period’s late Maastrichtian stage. The name Triceratops comes from the Greek word meaning “three-horned face.”
See the fact file below for more information on Triceratops or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Triceratops worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
Discovery and Identification
- Georg Lyman Cannon discovered a pair of brow horns affixed to a skull roof in Denver, Colorado, in the spring of 1887 and called them Triceratops. Marsh received this specimen and determined that the strata from whence it came was Pliocene in age and that the bones belonged to an exceptionally vast and unique buffalo known as Bison alticornis.
- Although not securely assignable, specimens presumably of Triceratops were reported as two species, Agathaumas sylvestris and Polyonax mortuarius, by Marsh’s adversary Edward Drinker Cope in 1872 and 1874, respectively.
- Fielding Bradford Meek and Henry Martyn Bannister named Agathaumas after finding a pelvis, several vertebrae, and some ribs near the Green River in southwestern Wyoming from laters of the Maastrichtian Lance Formation. Due to their fragmented condition, the remnants can only be securely ascribed to Ceratopsidae.
- The Triceratops holotype (YPM 1820) was discovered in the Lance Formation of Wyoming, USA, in 1888 by fossil hunter John Bell Hatcher, although Marsh first misidentified it as another species of Ceratops. A vast skull protruding from the gully’s edge shocked cowboy Edmund B. Wilson, who attempted to retrieve it by wrapping a lasso around one of the horns.
- The study of the nature of the animal’s skull has resulted in the preservation of numerous instances, such as fossils, allowing changes between species and individuals to be examined. Since then, fragments of the Triceratops have been found in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the American states of Montana and South Dakota.
- Agathaumas sylvestris was named by Edward Drinker Cope after an earlier species found in the Lance Formation. Initially described as a hadrosaur, this specimen comprises mainly postcranial fragments and is only tentatively considered a Triceratops specimen.
Species
- Following the description, Hatcher collected an additional thirty-one Triceratops skulls between 1889 and 1891. The first species was given the name T. Marsh’s horridus, named after the Latin word horridus, which means “rough, rugose,” possibly referring to the rough texture of the type specimen, which was later identified as an aged individual.
- The extra skulls differed from the original holotype to varying degrees. This variance is predictable given that Triceratop’s skulls are massive three-dimensional objects from individuals of various ages and sexes and subjected to varying quantities and directions of pressure during fossilization.
- The concept that different individual skulls could reflect unique diversity within (one or two) species grew in favor throughout time. In 1986, John Ostrom and Peter Wellnhofer presented a study in which they suggested that Triceratops horridus was the only species. Part of their reasoning was that the region has only one or two species of large animals.
- Thomas Lehman added the ancient Lull-Sternberg lineages, maturity, and sexual dimorphism, to their findings, implying that the T. horridus–T. prorsus–T. The T. brevicornus lineage was made up of females. calicornis–T. Males made up the elatus lineage and the T. obtusus–T. The hatcheri lineage consisted of pathologic old males.
- Catherine Forster, who reanalyzed Triceratops material more completely, later contested these findings, determining that the bones belonged to two species, T. T. and horridus T. prorsus, despite T’s distinctive cranium. (“Nedoceratops”) hatcheri diverged enough to earn its genus. She reasoned that the two groups were species since the first group had far more specimens. The disparity can still be viewed as a single species with sexual dimorphism.
Description
Size
- Triceratops was a massive creature, measuring 8-9 meters (26-30 feet) in length and weighing 5-9 metric tons (5.5-9.9 short tons). T is a specimen. The horridus Kelsey was between 6.7 and 7.3 meters (22 to 24 feet) in length and had a 2-meter (6.5 foot) head (7.5 ft). In front of the teeth was a huge beak on the front of the crown. A unique rostral bone created the core of the upper beak.
Skull
- In front of the teeth was a huge beak on the front of the skull. A unique rostral bone created the core of the upper beak. The premaxillae bones were discovered behind it, embayed from behind by substantial circular nostrils. Triceratops differed from other cousins in that this process was hallowed out on the outside. Below the toothed premaxilla, the maxilla bore thirty-six to forty tooth locations, with three to five teeth vertically piled in each place. The teeth were forced together tightly, generating a “dental batter” that curled inward. The skull had a single horn above the nostrils on the snout. The nose horn is occasionally identified as a distinct ossification, the epinasal, in Triceratops.
- The skull also had a pair of 1 meter (3.3 ft) long “brow” or supraorbital horns, one above each eye. These were not exceptionally huge in Triceratops and occasionally touched the quadratojugals. The skull roof’s bones were joined, and a “double” skull roof was constructed by folding the frontal bones. Some Triceratops specimens have a fontanelle, an aperture in the upper roof layer.
- The lower jaws were extended and joined at the tips in a joint epidentary bone, which formed the core of the toothless lower beak. The tooth battery curled to the exterior of the dentary bone to meet the upper jaw battery. The articular bone in the back lower jaw was comprehensive, reflecting the overall breadth of the jaw joint.
Postcranial Skeleton
- The skeleton of the Triceratops was strong, with muscular limbs, small hands with three hooves each, and swift feet with four claws each. The vertebral column comprised ten necks, twelve backs, ten sacral vertebrae, and ten tail vertebrae. A syncervical was formed by fusing the front neck vertebrae.
- The vertebral count indicated above has been modified for this perspective. The neural spines of the neck of Triceratops remain constant in height rather than progressively sloping upwards. Another peculiarity is that the lengthening of the neck ribs does not begin until the ninth cervical vertebrae.
- Triceratops’ hands and forearms remained a primitive anatomy compared to other quadrupedal dinosaurs such as thyreophorans and numerous sauropods. As the animals moved, the forelimbs of quadrupedal species were generally turned such that the hands faced forward with the palms rearward (“pronated”). Like other members of the Cerapoda, including other ceratopsians and related quadrupedal ornithopods, Triceratops walked with most of its fingers pointing away from the body.
- Only the first three fingers of the hand-carried the body’s weight in Triceratops, while fingers 4 and 5 were vestigial and lacked claws or hooves.
Skin
- A preserved Triceratops skin specimen was discovered in Wyoming. However, it was not adequately documented in the scientific literature. These are massive hexagonal tubercles measuring 50-60 millimeters (2.0-2.4 in) across with conical projections and larger 100 millimeters (3.9 in) across tubercles with conical projections. In Wyoming, a preserved Triceratops skin specimen was uncovered. It still needs to be thoroughly documented in the scientific literature. These are massive hexagonal tubercles measuring 50-60 millimeters (2.0-2.4 in) across with conical projections and larger 100 millimeters (3.9 in) across tubercles with conical projections.
Classification
- Triceratops is the most well-known member of the Ceratopsidae family of enormous, predominantly North American, horned dinosaurs. The unique connection of Triceratops to the ceratopsids has long been questioned.
- Triceratops and their close cousins’ deeper evolutionary roots remained primarily unknown for many years after their discovery. Henry Fairfield Osborn identified the newly found Protoceratops as its progenitor in 1922, but it took decades for more evidence to emerge. The discovery of several Triceratops’ ancestors in recent years has been fruitful.
- Dinosauria has been defined using the genus Triceratops as a point of reference in phylogenetic taxonomy; It has been determined that all dinosaurs are descended from the most recent avian and Triceratops common ancestor. Furthermore, bird-hipped dinosaurs are more closely linked to Triceratops than to present birds.
Paleobiology
- Although Triceratops are frequently shown as herding animals, there is little evidence that they did so. To date, there is just one reported bonebed dominated by Triceratops bones: a location in southern Montana with the remains of three youngsters. The presence of youngsters might be crucial.
- In Newcastle, Wyoming, a group of three Triceratops in good shape, ranging in size from an adult to a young adolescent, were found in 2012. The bones were unearthed by a Black Hills Institute team led by paleontologist Peter Larson. The animals are believed to be traveling together as a family. It still needs to be determined whether the group consists of a mated couple and their offspring or two females and a youngster.
- Triceratops’ endocranial structure demonstrates how worse it was than other dinosaurs’ senses of smell. It focused on low-frequency noises because of the short cochlear lengths seen in an investigation by Sakagami et al. The same study contends that the Triceratops held its head at a 45-degree inclination to the ground, which would best display its horns and frill while enabling it to graze and benefit from food.
Dentition and Diet
- Triceratops were herbivorous, and due to their low sling head, their primary meal was presumably low-growing flora, though their horns, beak, and weight may have allowed them to knock down higher plants. The jaws had a deep, thin beak that was thought to be better at gripping and plucking than biting.
- Depending on the animal’s size, triceratops teeth were arranged in batteries of 36 to 40 tooth columns on either side of each jaw, with 3 to 5 piled teeth per column. Triceratops’ massive size and many teeth imply that they ate large amounts of fibrous plant material, with some experts speculating on palms and cycads and others on ferns, which flourished in grasslands.
Functions of the Horns and Frill
- The purpose of Triceratops’ head adornments has long been debated. The two main hypotheses have focused on their usage in warfare and courting displays, with the latter currently regarded as the more likely primary purpose.
- Triceratops were long assumed to have utilized their horns and frills to fight predators like Tyrannosaurus, a proposed hypothesis by Charles H. Sternberg in 1917 and revisited 70 years later by Robert Bakker. Tyrannosaurus had violent head-on contact with Triceratops forehead horn and squamosal; the bitten horn is likewise shattered, with new bone formation after the break.
- The Triceratops likely survived the encounter after its wounds healed. According to paleontologist Peter Dodson, the Triceratops would have the upper hand in a fight with the bull Triceratops. It would effectively defend itself by inflicting deadly wounds on the Tyrannosaurus with its pointed horns. Tyrannosaurus also consumed Triceratops, as evidenced by an extensively tooth-scored Triceratops ilium and sacrum.
- Triceratops was reported to have a 14% injury rate. The researchers also determined that the damage discovered on the study’s specimens was frequently too limited to be caused by bone disease.
Growth and Ontogeny
- In 2006, the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal published the results of the first thorough study on the ontogenetic development of Triceratops. According to John R. Horner and Mark Goodwin’s study, Triceratops individuals may be classified into four ontogenetic groups: newborns, juveniles, subadults, and adults. The smallest of the 28 skulls studied measured 36 centimeters (15 in). Identifying features in 10 of the 28 skulls that could be categorized according to developmental stages were found. The ontogenic tendencies observed were decreased exoccipital horn size, postorbital horn growth, reorientation, and horn hollowing.
Depictions
- Wyoming’s official state dinosaur is the Triceratops, while South Dakota’s official state fossil is the Triceratops (US). In 1942, Charles R. Knight painted a mural for the National Geographic Society in the Field Museum of Natural History depicting a clash between a Tyrannosaurus and a Triceratops, cementing them as foes of the ordinary mind.
- “No matching between predator and prey has ever been more spectacular,” paleontologist Bob Bakker remarked of Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops’ imagined conflict. That these two huge rivals lived out their co-evolutionary aggression in the closing days of the Age of Dinosaurs is fitting.
Triceratops Worksheets
This fantastic bundle includes everything you need to know about the Triceratops across 23 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use Triceratops worksheets are perfect for teaching students about Triceratops, a herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that formerly roamed present-day North America roughly 68 million years ago.
Complete List of Included Worksheets
- The Three-Horned Beast
- Dino Built
- Othniel Marsh
- Times of Existence
- Cretaceous Extinction
- Tricera-Crossword
- Tricera-Word Creator
- Triceratops in Popular Culture
- Quick Review
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Triceratops?
Triceratops is a herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that formerly roamed present-day North America roughly 68 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period’s late Maastrichtian stage.
Where does the name triceratops derive?
The name Triceratops comes from the Greek word meaning “three-horned face.”
How giant is a triceratops?
Triceratops was a massive creature, measuring 8-9 meters (26-30 feet) in length and weighing 5-9 metric tons (5.5-9.9 short tons). T is a specimen. The horridus Kelsey was between 6.7 and 7.3 meters (22 to 24 feet) in length and had a 2-meter (6.5 foot) head (7.5 ft).n front of the teeth was a huge beak on the front of the crown. A unique rostral bone created the core of the upper beak.
What does triceratops eat?
Triceratops were herbivorous, and due to their low sling head, their primary meal was presumably low-growing flora, though their horns, beak, and weight may have allowed them to knock down higher plants. The jaws had a deep, thin beak that was thought to be better at gripping and plucking than biting.
What is the function of triceratops horns and frill?
The purpose of Triceratops’ head adornments has long been debated. The two main hypotheses have focused on their usage in warfare and courting displays, with the latter currently regarded as the more likely primary purpose. Triceratops were long assumed to have utilized their horns and frills to fight predators like Tyrannosaurus, a proposed hypothesis by Charles H. Sternberg in 1917 and revisited 70 years later by Robert Bakker.
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