Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Triceratops
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
Illustration of a Triceratops, a large, four-legged dinosaur with a prominent bony neck frill and three facial horns, shown next to two human figures for scale. Measurement bars indicate 1 meter and 3 feet, highlighting the dinosaur's impressive size, and text notes it was a massive, late Cretaceous herbivore from North America. Image shows a Triceratops skeleton.
The video thumbnail image shows an illustration of the bird dinosaur Longipteryx alongside two toy dinosaur figurines.
Triceratops, restoration by C. Lang.
At a Glance
default image
Triceratops summary
Quizzes
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
Animal Group Names
Lion (panthera leo)
Deadliest Animals Quiz
Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)
Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz
Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)
Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz
The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024
Animal Factoids
Related Questions
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Illustration of a Triceratops, a large, four-legged dinosaur with a prominent bony neck frill and three facial horns, shown next to two human figures for scale. Measurement bars indicate 1 meter and 3 feet, highlighting the dinosaur's impressive size, and text notes it was a massive, late Cretaceous herbivore from North America.
Triceratops Triceratops, a late Cretaceous dinosaur, was a massive herbivore with a bony neck frill and three face horns. It was one of the last and most numerous of dinosaurs.

Triceratops

dinosaur genus
Also known as: Triceratopses
Written by
John B. Scannella
Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences at Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana.
John B. Scannella
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Triceratops, (genus Triceratops), large quadrupedal plant-eating ceratopsian dinosaur that had a frill of bone at the back of its skull and three prominent horns. Fossils of “three-horned face,” as its Latin name is usually translated, date to the final 3 million years of the Cretaceous Period (145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago), making it one of the last of the non-avian dinosaurs to have evolved. Paleontologists estimate that the body length of Triceratops approached...

Discover the world with Britannica

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Free Trial | No Ads | Exclusive Content
Explore Subscriptions
DNA
Right
Mobile