Triceratops

(try-SERRA-tops)

(For information on Henry the Triceratops click here)

Average Size: 9ft tall & 30ft Long

Average Weight: 12 tons

Meaning: "Three Horned Face"

Diet: Herbivore

Fossil Locations: North America

Time Period: Late Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous Period (68-65mya)

Triceratops had a birdlike beak and could clip off hundreds of pounds of tough vegetation everyday. They also had batteries of shearing teeth embedded in their jaws, a few hundred of which were in use at any given time. As one set of teeth wore down they would be replaced by the adjacent battery, a process that continued throughout the dinosaur's lifetime.

The most probable explanation of the Triceratops' frill is that it was used to signal other members of the herd. It may have also had some temperature regulation function, assuming that they were cold-blooded.

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Works Cited:

Triceratops, Dinosaurpictures.org, 03/23/2024, http://dinosaurpictures.org/triceratops-pictures

Triceratops, www.prehistoric-wildlife.com, 03/23/2024, https://prehistoric-wildlife.com/t/triceratops.html