Triceratops is a large ceratopsian dinosaur, and one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to have ever existed. Triceratopswas about 3 meters (10 feet) tall, 10 meters (33 feet) long, weighed as much as 7 tons, and had a skull up to 3 meters (10 ft) in length, making it one of the biggest, if not the biggest of all the horned dinosaurs, which many believe it to be. They are thought to have been browsers, as they had shearing teeth to slice through vegetation and feed on low shrubs. A fully grown Triceratopswas far from defenseless because of its impressive size, thick hide, and, unlike many of its relatives, Triceratopslacked the two holes covered with skin on its bony frill, allowing it to use it as a shield to its neck as well as using it for display. According to some paleontologists, it may have been the juvenile form of a different ceratopsid dinosaur, Torosaurus, though many think this is quite unlikely. Triceratopswas one of the last dinosaurs to go extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period 65,000,000 MYA.
A herd mixed with Triceratops, Edmontosaurus, and Ornithomimus are seen grazing in the fern and shrub plains. A young male Tyrannosaurus rex arrives on the scene and bursts out of the forest in an ambush, prompting the Triceratops herd to assume a defensive position by surrounding the baby Triceratops in an impenetrable circular position. The Tyrannosaurus backs off in response and decides to instead chase a Quetzalcoatlus who was feeding on a dead Triceratops, but the pterosaur escapes, and so the tyrant prince retreats back into the forest. Later, multiple Triceratops were seen running from the meteor shower that the asteroid impact unleashed upon their world, and are shown to have gone extinct alongside all other dinosaurs, with the exception of birds.
Trivia[]
Triceratops' horns and bony frill serve as a function for all sorts of purposes, like as defensive weapons against predators like Tyrannosaurus rex, and, in males, to battle rivals for dominance or leadership to the herd, and maybe even to attract females to mate with.
Triceratops is commonly known as the rhinoceros of the Cretaceous, because of their resemblance in horns.
As the last and largest member of the ceratopsian family, Triceratops is descended from all the other species of ceratopsians, like Einiosaurus, Styracosaurus, Torosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus and Centrosaurus. It's even descended from smaller ceratopsians like Zuniceratops, Protoceratops, and even Psittacosaurus and Yinlong.
Scientific Inaccuracies[]
Triceratops may have had feather-like quills on its back, something the When Dinosaurs Roamed America Triceratops doesn’t have. It should be noted however that this theory was proposed long after the documentary’s debut, and it is only a hypothesis in any case, which is either unconfirmed or definitely unlikely.
Triceratops may have possessed a keratin covering over its skull in life, which could potentially have caused the horns to appear even larger and differently shaped than the animal is generally depicted, but this, too, is unconfirmed.
