Triceratops

Triceratops
Triceratops, Marsh, 1889

number on the map: 25

Superorder: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia

Triceratops is one of the most recognisable dinosaurs in the world. It owes its name to the characteristic head with three horns and a bony collar around the neck. Triceratops lived in North America in the late Cretaceous and, together with Tyrannosaurus, all the way until the great extinction at the end of the Mesozoic era. It moved slowly on its four massive legs and fed on hard vegetation; its mouth, ending with a toothless beak, could crush even the hardest seeds. The number of teeth was also overwhelming: Triceratops could have had up to 800 of them (3–5 rows of 40 teeth on each side of the jaw and mandible), constantly replaced throughout the whole life.

body length: 9 m
body mass: 6 000–12 000 kg
temporal range: 68–65,5 mya