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horned dinosaur
Triceratops
Say it like this: “try-SERR-uh-tops”
Triceratops horridus
Triceratops ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 1889 · Marsh, O. C.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 7.9–9 m · 26–30 ft
- Weight
- 5.4–12 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Lance
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- horned dinosaur · Ceratopsian
- Family branch
- Chasmosaurinae
The story in short
In 1889, O. C. Marsh published the name Triceratops. The name means “three-horned face.”
Fossils referred to Triceratops date to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Lance Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Triceratops at a length near 7.9–9 m and a body mass around 5.4–12 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Chasmosaurinae, among the horned dinosaurs.
This entry is the whole genus. The type species is Triceratops horridus. Other named species include Triceratops prorsus.
Other species with this name
- Triceratops horridus
- Triceratops prorsus
Close relatives
Agujaceratops
Agujaceratops mariscalensis
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Anchiceratops
Anchiceratops ornatus
Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago
Arrhinoceratops
Arrhinoceratops brachyops
Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago