Triceratops

Triceratops was a plant-eating dinosaur known for its three horns and giant frill. It lived at the same time as T. rex and used its horns for protection.

TRICERATOPS

COMMON NAME: Triceratops

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Triceratops horridus

TYPE: Dinosaur (ceratopsian)

DIET: Herbivore

GROUP NAME: Herd

WHEN IT LIVED: Late Cretaceous (about 68 to 66 million years ago)

WHERE IT LIVED: Western North America

SIZE: About 26 to 30 feet long

WEIGHT: About 6 to 12 tons

Built for Defense

Triceratops had a thick skull and a bony frill that protected its neck. Its two long brow horns and small nose horn could help it defend against predators.

Close-up view of a Triceratops skull. Image Credit: Chris Woodrich, Wikimedia Commons

What Did It Eat?

Triceratops used its beak to snip plants and its strong teeth to chew tough leaves and shrubs. It likely lived in areas with lots of low-growing plants.

Triceratops details: grasslands habitat, beak for clipping plants, frill texture, and fossil dig tools. Image Credits (from top left to bottom right): Duskbloom Littles (Artistic Image Rendering); James St. John, Wikimedia Commons; Kamraman, Wikimedia Commons; Mark Marathon, Wikimedia Commons

Triceratops shows how plant-eating dinosaurs were just as impressive as the predators.