Length: 33 ft. Weight: 3-4 tons Period: Cretaceous

The mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex roared in frustration.  He had thought Triceratops looked like a filling meal, but each of his attacks was countered by a stabbing thrust of vicious horns.  Fended off by his own prey, Tyrannosaurus sulked away to find an easier dinner.

A Horned Giant 
The Defense Mechanisms 
The Ceratopsids 
How Do We Know That? 
Mesozoic Timeline

Triceratops lived near the end of the Mesozoic Age, the Age of Reptiles.  Along with Tyrannosaurus Rex and Ankylosaurus, Triceratops was one of the last dinosaur species to evolve before dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. 

A Horned Giant   
Triceratops was a plant-eating dinosaur about the size of an elephant.  Walking on all four legs, Triceratops was 30 feet long (9 meters) and could weigh from 6 to 12 tons. 

The skull of a triceratops could be up to 10 feet long (3 meters), one of the largest skulls of any land animal ever.  Triceratops also had thick legs with hoof-like claws, and a short, pointed tail. 

Triceratops used rows of cheek teeth for grinding up vegetation.  Unlike many herbivorous dinosaurs, Triceratops was able to chew its food very thoroughly before swallowing it.
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The Defense Mechanisms   
Triceratops defended itself with long, sharp horns and a bony neck frill.  The dinosaur had one short horn above its beak and two long ones above its eyes.  The long horns could be up to 3 feet (1 meter) in length.  Like a modern rhinoceros, Triceratops probably faced its enemies head on so that any attacker would run into the horns first. 

Triceratops was also protected by its bony neck frill.  The frill was a large, bony plate that began at the base of the skull and protected the back of the neck from attackers.
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The Ceratopsids   
Triceratops was a member of a family of horn-headed dinosaurs called ceratopsids.  Ceratopsids were all large dinosaurs with horns and protective neck frills.  Since large bone beds containing many ceratopsid skeletons are sometimes found, scientists think that these dinosaurs lived in herds.
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How Do We Know That?   
Triceratops got its name, which means “horrible, three-horned face,” in 1889.  Paleontologist Othniel Marsh named the dinosaur when he found an early fossil in Colorado, USA.  Triceratops fossils are rare.  Only about 50 skulls and some partial skeletons have been found.
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Mesozoic Timeline

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