Triceratops

Tons-heavy and three-horned

What do you do when you just want to eat your laurels in peace, but constantly have a group of ravenous Tyrannosaurs trailing behind you? You defend yourself with three enormous horns on your head and four massive legs. Triceratops most likely lived most of its life alone, and therefore did not benefit from a flock’s ability to protect and warn each other. It lived in the very end of the dinosaur era, just before a massive meteorite struck the Yucatán Peninsula, causing a mass extinction that marked the end of the dinosaurs’ heyday.

Here, in the calm before the storm, Triceratops used its enormous body to shake the large cone trees, cypresses, and sequoias, in order to munch on fallen leaves and cones. As Triceratops reached adolescence, its large crest grew immensely, serving as an attraction to find a mate. And although Triceratops may seem peaceful, their skulls have been found with significant battle scars, so things may have gotten wild occasionally, even among the solitary, laurel-chewing Triceratops.

Size
Approximately 9 meters long

Weight
6 – 8 tons

Period
Late Cretaceous period (68 – 66 million years ago)

Diet
Herbivorous

Locations
North America and Canada