Dinosaur Home » A-Z Dinosaurs List » Triceratops Dinosaur
Triceratops
Triceratops ("three-horned face") was a ceratopsid herbivorous dinosaur species from the Latest Cretaceous time of North America. It was about 9 m (30 ft) long, and almost certainly weighed approximately 5,400 kg (12,000 lb).
Discoveries and species
Triceratops was exposed by John Bell Hatcher in 1888. Its statement as
a legitimate dinosaur came when a whole skull was found. It was named
by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1889. Two years earlier, however, he misidentified
the Triceratops as a type of bison. The strong natural world of the animal's
skull has ensured that many examples have been preserved as fossils, allowing
variations between species and persons to be studied.
Known species of Triceratops include T. prorsus and T. horridus. Diceratops was formerly supposed to be a species of Triceratops as well, but is currently documented as a separate genus and species.
Triceratops species:
T. horridus Marsh, 1889 (type species)
T. prorsus Marsh, 1890
Nomina dubia:
T. albertensis Sternberg, 1949
T. alticornis Marsh, 1887 (originally 'Bison')
T. eurycephalus Schlaikjer, 1935
T. galeus Marsh, 1889
T. ingens Lull, 1915
T. maximus Brown, 1933
T. sulcatus Marsh, 1890
Misassignments:
T. brevicornis Hatcher, 1905 (=T. prorsus)
T. calicornus Marsh, 1898 (=T. horridus)
T. elatus Marsh, 1891 (=T. horridus)
T. flabellatus Marsh, 1889 (=T. horridus)
T. hatcheri Lull, 1907 (=Diceratops hatcheri)
T. mortuarius Cope, 1874 (also nomen dubium; originally Polyonax; =Polyonax
mortuarius)
T. obtusus Marsh, 1898 (=T. horridus)
T. serratus Marsh, 1890 (=T. horridus)
T. sylvestris Cope, 1872 (nomen dubium; originally Agathaumas; =Agathaumas
sylvestris)
