Triceratops

Triceratops (name meaning "Three-Horned Face"), often called Trike for short, is a genus of large herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur that originated during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now North America. Measuring around 9 meters long and weighing over 8 tons, Triceratops is the largest and best-known member of the well-armored Ceratopsian family as well as one of the world's most famous and recognizable dinosaurs, due to its notably impressive set of three horns and large frill. Triceratops was also one of the last known dinosaurs to have ever lived before the great extinction event at the end of the period.

In the Series 1 finale "End of the Road", a herd of eight Triceratops and their babies were died from prehistoric extinction in Montana of 65 million years ago. The leader of the herd is a large female named Sarah, and her son, named Theo, helps her manage the herd.

Era & Discovery
Triceratops lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous period around 86 million years ago and it died out with all the other dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous, as it was one of the last dinosaurs to go extinct around 65 million years ago. Although Triceratops has been described as the apex vegetarian of its time, they were still preyed upon by the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, in addition to being one of T. rex's favorite sources of food.

When the fossils of Triceratops were first discovered in Colorado, North America in 1889, John Bell Hatcher and Othniel Charles Marsh named the dinosaur "Triceratops horridus", which, as it turns out, means "Horrid Three-Horned Face." Since their discovery, Triceratops is thus far the largest ceratopsian discovered and among the world's most famous dinosaurs.

Physical Attributes
Around the size of an elephant and loosely having rhinoceros-like build, Triceratops was a large, heavyset quadruped dinosaur, with a fully grown adult measuring roughly 30 feet (9 m) long, standing 9.5 feet (2.9 m) tall, weighing as much as 8 – 12 (17,000 – 26,000 lbs.), and having a skull up to 9 – 11 feet (2.8 – 3.5 m) in length. This makes Triceratops thus far the largest member of the ceratopsian family of dinosaurs. Bearing a large bony frill and three horns on its large four-legged body (two long, sharp horns above its eyes and a smaller horn on its nose), and conjuring similarities with the modern rhinoceros, Triceratops is one of the most recognizable of all dinosaurs and the best-known ceratopsid.

If a human was ever unfortunate enough to stand in the way of a charging Triceratops, it would be comparable to being hit by a train moving 10 – 15 mph (16 – 24 km/h). Its limbs were thick and the hind legs were somewhat longer than the fore, which had a digitigrade posture, i.e. the weight was distributed to its toes, rather than the whole foot. Much like their smaller Asian cousins Protoceratops and other ceratopsians for that matter, the front end of its jaws ended in a sort of a beak that enabled Triceratops to snap branches as thick as a man's arm as well as browse the fronds and twigs of the woody plants that were contemporary to the end of the Cretaceous.

The most distinctive feature of Triceratops is their large skull, among the largest of all land animals. The largest known skull is estimated to have been up to 11 feet (3.4 m) in length when complete and could reach almost a third of the length of the entire animal. Triceratops bore a small, single horn on the snout, above the nostrils, and a pair of long, sharp horns approximately 1 m (3 ft) long, with one above each eye and were used to defend itself. To the rear of the skull was a relatively short however huge, bony frill around its neck, adorned with epoccipitals in some specimens, and could be flushed red with blood when aggravated, to intimidate rivals. Unlike most of its relatives, which other ceratopsids had large fenestrae in their frills, Triceratops were noticeably solid, therefore it lacked the two holes that are covered with skin on its bony frill, allowing it to use it as a shield to its neck as well as using it for display.

Capabilities and Weaponry

 * Head: Triceratops was able to use its large head to fight against opposing dinosaurs. Additionally, it also had defensive headgear that it could use against both attackers and even its own kind.
 * Frill: Triceratops possessed a large bony frill to protect its neck and shoulders.
 * Horns: Like most ceratopsian dinosaurs, Triceratops possessed two long horns that it could use against attackers, piercing the flesh of predators.
 * Strength: Due to its massive size, Triceratops was a very strong dinosaur, enough so to push a tractor over on its side.

Behavior & Traits
Like many herbivores and other members of the ceratopsian family, Triceratops lived and traveled in large herds of hundreds or even thousands of individuals filling up the plains in North America like modern-day bison used to do. A herd of them would have been a glorious sight.

A fully grown Triceratops was far from defenseless, as their frill was made of solid bone. While adult Triceratops were able to stand against giant theropod dinosaurs, even ones like Tyrannosaurus, younger Triceratops knew better than to stand their ground. For youngsters to grow to 8 tons, they spent most of their lives feeding. Whenever Triceratops fed, these weren't grazing animals like cows. Instead, they were browsers like black rhinos. As such, Triceratops feed on low trees and shrubs.

Another part of their lives was jousting with one another, which is what Triceratops did in the wild. Like most, if not, all other members of the ceratopsian family, Triceratops had jousting tournaments in nature during times like mating season (when males fought over females), when two males were fighting for dominance, or when juveniles jousted for fun, injuring their frill and neck. But regardless of how they lived, fought, and protected themselves, Triceratops was a magnificent dinosaur.

Despite their fearsome appearance, Triceratops was, in fact, a gentle and inoffensive giant vegetarian that would only attack if they felt threatened or challenged. It also instinctively disliked the color red and was easily aggravated by the sight of it into charging.

Trivia

 * Triceratops was the last and largest ceratopsian dinosaur to be brought to the mesuem.
 * As one of the last dinosaurs to have evolved, Triceratops represents, along with the other freshly evolved species, a new faunal phase of the Dinosauria, that was killed in its tracks prematurely.
 * The sound effects of Triceratops are the sound effects of bull, camel, cow, elephant, horse, and other dinosaur sound effects.