70 Million BC
30 Feet
11 Tons
With its mighty three-horned head and heavily armored body, a fast-charging Triceratops must have been a fearsome sight to any hungry Tyrannosaurus. Certainly not what you would call an easy meal.
Triceratops was among the best known of the horned-face dinosaurs called "ceratopids." It was also one of the last dinosaurs to exist on the planet before dinosaurs mysteriously became extinct. Scientists know this because Triceratops’ bones have been found in the most recent sediments containing dinosaur fossils.
Normally a peaceful plant-eater, Triceratops offered the perfect defense against marauding predators like Tyrannosaurus. Massively built, an adult Triceratops could grow to more than 30 feet long and weigh up to 11 tons, heavier than an elephant! Its skull was built like an enormous shield with a thick neck frill, a short, thick nose horn and two long brow horns which sometimes measured over three feet long.
Triceratops lived some 70-65 million years ago and likely roamed in great herds throughout western North America. In 1900, dinosaur collector John Bell Hatcher recovered 32 ceratopian skulls in the area around Niobrara County, Wyoming, and almost all of them belonged to the Triceratops family.
LOCALITY: Wyoming, USA
ORDER: Ornithischia
SUBORDER: Ceratopsia
FAMILY: Ceratopsidae