Triceratops

The Triceratops was a famous plant-eater dinosaur that lived 68 to 66 million years ago (late Cretaceous), discovered in 1887 in Colorado. The first skeleton was send to the expert paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. First he classified it as a mammal, but when the entire skull was discovered he changed his mind. The Triceratops as we know today had three horns. Scientists believe that he used them to fight for the females.Marsh named the creature Triceratops (actually Triceratops horridus) wich means three horned face. It belongs to the ceratopsid family. There are two species of Triceratops, Triceratops horridus and Triceratops porsus. In the Hell Creek formation it is found commonly.

Triceratops had a length from 7.9 meters to 9 meters and weighted about 11 000 kilos. Triceratops traveled to find food in big groups. Triceratops had muscular legs. He was hunted usually by T-Rex. To defend against the predators, Triceratops made a circle and showed their large horns to the hunters. The baby Triceratops were kept in the middle, to keep the next generation safe. His "hands" had only three hooves, but his legs had four. Triceratops had a beak, wich is a characteristic of ceratopsids. He had a lot of teeth so we think that Triceratops ate huge amounts of plants.