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Triceratops Facts

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Below are some of the facts about Triceratops:

  • The fossils of Triceratops were found in places in USA like Montana, Utah and Nebraska. They belonged to the Cretaceous period and were mainly herbivores.
  • In 1887 Othniel Charles Marsh, first described about the Triceratops. After looking at the horns it thought them to be of a bison but later understood that it was from the family of dinosaurs.
  • They derive their name from Greek word where tri means three and keratops means horn faced. It meant that they had three horns.
  • Actually in reality, the Triceratops had only two real horns. The third one that gave them this name was located at the end of snout and was made up of keratin. It was something like the human finger nails.
  • Paleontologists have also identified an animal remains with two horns, and have named it as Diceratops but actually now it is believed that it may have the juvenile growth stage of the triceratops only.
  • The distinct physical features of the Triceratops was their three horns, large body and the unique frills. They powerfully built and their overall size was roughly that of an elephant.
  • In 1887 the first known fossil of a triceratops was found in Denver, Colorado.
  • The skull of the triceratops was about one-third of the body of the animal and it was only one such animal with such huge skull compared to its body.
  • The Triceratops lived during the period of the T. Rex and in order to save them during battle with the T. Rex they used their horns.
  • They had frills that covered their neck and shoulders and the main purpose of the frills may have been protecting the animal’s neck and shoulders.
  • It is also believed by scientists that the other purpose of using their frills was communication. They may have used it to show social expressions or show the level of aggression.
  • The Triceratops were mainly herbivores who lived on plants and shrubs. They mainly ate the low lying vegetables.
  • Different fossils of the animal shows that they didn’t lived in herds. They were mainly solitary animals who liked to live alone.
  • Triceratops prorsus and Triceratops horridus are the two species of the Triceratops that are recognized while there are many more that are proposed but yet to such evidence support their existence.
  • It was believed that the Triceratops were among the last dinosaurs that existed as after that there was extinction of the same.