Triceratops

Description

Triceratops is a popular herbivorous dinosaur known for its helmet-like head. It’s one of the largest ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period in North America—the same time and place as Tyrannosaurus. Triceratops was one of the last surviving dinosaurs, and it’s highly likely that it was a primary food source for Tyrannosaurus.

It was likely a primary food source for Tyrannosaurus.

As its name, “three-horned face,” suggests, it had one thick, short horn on its nose and two long horns above its brows. The back of its head had a large frill, and the front of its mouth had a thick beak.

The frill made up half the length of its entire skull, and powerful jaw muscles may have been attached to its base. Its jaw strength is believed to be the strongest ever among plant-eating animals.

Its teeth were naturally sharpened by chewing plants, becoming as sharp as chisels, and new teeth would emerge as old ones wore down. Triceratops could eat all kinds of plants, and the traces of their feeding would have looked as if they had been sheared by giant garden clippers.

It is believed that it used its beak to pluck food and its back teeth, like shredders, to finely chop it. Given that it was as big as an elephant, it likely ate any plant it could find.

It ate any plant it could find.

With a massive head weighing nearly a ton, it was practically impossible for it to lift its head high. Thus, it is thought that it could not eat tall plants. Its skull had very few hollow spaces, and the neck vertebrae were fused together into a short, single rod. This suggests that its head was too heavy for it to move its neck freely. By the way, the brain inside its huge head was only about the size of a small orange.

Its body looked similar to a rhinoceros, but it couldn’t run as fast as one due to its heavy head. It was slower than Tyrannosaurus, and it’s believed that if attacked, it would have fought back by brandishing its long horns.

It fought back by brandishing its long horns.

Triceratops’s Horns and Frill

Of the three horns, the two above its brows could exceed 1 meter in length, while the one on its nose was much shorter. The frill may have also been used for mating displays or as a thermoregulation organ.

The horns of Triceratops were made of bone and were an extension of its skull. The frill was not as long as some other ceratopsians, but it was very sturdy and covered in skin.

The Survivor

Triceratops, along with ferocious theropods like Tyrannosaurus, survived until the very end of the Cretaceous Period. When confronted by a predator, it would face it with its three horns and use its frill like a shield to protect its neck from a biting attack.

It survived until the end of the Cretaceous Period along with ferocious theropods like Tyrannosaurus.

Battle with Tyrannosaurus

With a plant-eater like Triceratops, which looks like it has both strong defense and offense, and the most powerful carnivore, Tyrannosaurus, living in the same era and region, it’s natural to imagine a dynamic battle between them. We often see these kinds of depictions, but did a “Triceratops vs. Tyrannosaurus” battle actually happen?

Looking at modern carnivores, they rarely use brute force to attack healthy animals of their own size. The risk of being counter-attacked is too great. They attack opponents they can reliably take down, such as small or weak individuals that are sick or injured.

It’s unlikely that even a Tyrannosaurus would have indiscriminately attacked a healthy adult Triceratops. Since its horns were a threat and Triceratops moved in herds, it’s thought that large, dramatic battles were not that common.