The Triceratops skull is one of the biggest and most remarkable of any land animal, with three horns, a parrot-like mouth, and a huge frill that may reach about one meter (3 feet) in diameter. Let’s learn about this dinosaur in our triceratops facts for kids article.
Triceratops Facts for Kids
1. The name ‘Triceratops’ derives from the Greek word ‘tri’, which means three, and ‘keratops,’ which means horned face.
2. The Triceratops frill may have aided in neck protection, however some specimens exhibit Tyrannosaurus bite scars puncturing the frill, indicating that it was not always sufficient.
3. The frills might potentially have been utilised to attract mates or to distinguish individuals of the same species.
4. As dinosaur enthusiasts are well aware, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex coexisted in the same habitat 65 million years ago—the marshes and woodlands of western North America—just prior to the K-T catastrophe that wiped out the dinosaurs. It is fair to suppose that T. rex preyed on Triceratops on occasion.
5. They existed around 68–65 million years ago, during the cretaceous period. This occurred concurrently with the emergence of some very massive meat-eating dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Spinosaurus, and Albertosaurus.
6. It has two long forehead horns to defend itself from flesh eaters (predators). These are capable of growing to a length of at least one metre (3 feet). They would have been capable of inflicting significant harm on an enemy!
7. George Lyman Cannon found the Triceratops in 1887 in Denver, Colorado, USA.
8. A Triceratops is estimated to weigh between 6.5 and 13 tonnes. It is estimated to have measured between 25 and 30 feet in length. Its peak running speed is estimated to be up to 20 miles per hour.
9. Triceratops fossils have been discovered in the geological strata of Denver, Lance, Hell Creek, Evanston, Laramie, and Scollard.
Triceratops Facts for Kids
10. A renowned mural created by Charles Knight in 1942 portrays a struggle between a Triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
11. The Triceratops holotype is YPM 1820.
12. Triceratops possessed between 400 and 800 teeth, however only a tiny fraction of them were in use at any given time due to their continual replacement.
13. It required three horns in order to defend itself against the Tyrannosaurus Rex that existed at the same time period.
14. Triceratops was portrayed as Slag, an Autobot capable of transforming into a Triceratops form, in the iconic Transformers toy line and animated series.
15. Triceratops fossils come from the late Cretaceous period, right before the dinosaurs were wiped out by the K-T asteroid collision. Paleontologists think that at that time, dinosaur development had slowed to a crawl, and the ensuing loss of variety, along with other reasons, nearly ensured their demise.
16. Wyoming, United States of America, has designated the Triceratops as its state dinosaur.
17. Triceratops were herbivorous dinosaurs (plant eaters).
18. Certain Triceratops species possessed bone knobs on their neck frills. These frills would have complicated an attacker’s attempt to seize the Triceratops neck.