Triceratops Facts for Kids

A Picture of Triceratops
  • Species Type: Ceratops horridus
  • Type of Dinosaur: Ceratopsid
  • Period: Late Cretaceous
  • Diet: Foliage (herbivorous)
  • Life Span: Unknown
  • Length: Between 25 to 30 feet
  • Weight: Between 6.5 to 13 tons

17 Triceratops Facts for Kids

  1. The Triceratops was discovered in 1887, by George Lyman Cannon near Denver, Colorado, USA.
  2. The name Triceratops means: “Three-horned Face”.
  3. The name Triceratops is pronounced: “try-SAIR-uh-tops”.
  4. The Triceratops was part of a group of dinosaurs known as ceratopsids.
  5. The Triceratops lived in North America.
  6. They lived during the Late Cretaceous period about 68 million years ago.
  7. Estimates put the weight of a Triceratops between 6.5 and 13 tons.
  8. Estimates put the length of a Triceratops between 25 and 30 feet.
  9. Estimates put the top running speed of a Triceratops up to 20 mph.
  10. The Triceratops was a herbivore who ate foliage near the ground.
  11. The Triceratops had a bird-like beak on its mouth.
  12. The Triceratops was able to fight off predators with its three horns and the bony frill on its head.
  13. Triceratops fossils have been found in the Denver, Evanston, Hell Creek, Lance, Laramie and Scollard geological formations.
  14. The holotype specimen for the Triceratops is YPM 1820.
  15. The Triceratops is the state dinosaur of Wyoming.
  16. The Triceratops is the state fossil of South Dakota.
  17. A famous mural painted by Charles Knight in 1942, at Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago depicts a fight between a Triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus.

Additional Resources on Triceratops

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