Triceratops Characteristics

Triceratops measured 30 feet (9 metres) in length, 10 feet (3 metres) in height and weighed 6 - 12 tons. It had a large bulky, strong body and a short, heavy, pointed tail. Triceratops had a huge skull which measured 7 feet (2 metres) long and probably the largest among land animals. The skull could grow to measure almost a third of the dinosaurs entire body. It had a short bony plate projecting from the back of its skull. Most other ceratopsids had large fenestrae (openings) in their frills, while those of Triceratops were noticeably solid. Triceratops had 3 horns protruding from its face, 2 large horns above its eyes, that measured 3 feet (1 metre) in length and 1 shorter horn located above its parrot-like beak, above the nostrils. The horns were used as protection against predators and possibly for courtship and dominance displays. Triceratops was like a modern day rhinoceros and would probably charge at its enemy as a form of defence.

Triceratops moved around relatively slowly on its 4 short, sturdy legs. It walked with most of its toes pointing out and away from the body. Its back feet featured 4 hoof-like claws, while the front feet had 3 hoof-like claws.

More About Triceratops

Triceratops was a herbivore and ate large volumes of fibrous plant material such as cycads and low lying vegetation, chewing it with its many cheek teeth. Triceratops teeth were arranged in groups called batteries, of 36 to 40 tooth columns, in each side of each jaw with 3 to 5 stacked teeth per column, depending on the size of the animal. This gives a range of 432 to 800 teeth, of which only a few were in use at any one time. Tooth replacement was continuous and occurred throughout the life of the dinosaur.

Triceratops was probably a herding dinosaur like other Ceratopsians, this is supported as large bone beds have been found with large amounts of bones from the same species. These dinosaurs hatched from eggs. Triceratops intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was intermediate among the dinosaurs.

Triceratops remains have subsequently been found in Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming, in the USA and in Saskatchewan and Alberta, in Canada. The first named specimen now attributed to Triceratops is a pair of brow horns attached to a skull roof, found near Denver, Colorado in the spring of 1887. Triceratops skull was found in 1888 by John Bell Hatcher. About about 50 Triceratops skulls and some partial skeletons have been found.

Triceratops was named by Othniel Marsh in 1889.