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Triceratops is a large North American Ceratopsian that lived during the Cretaceous. There are currently two described species of Triceratops: T. prorsus and T. horridus, both of which being present in Prehistoric Kingdom.


Triceratops is a large North American Ceratopsian that lived during the Cretaceous. There are currently two described species of Triceratops: T. prorsus and T. horridus, both of which being present in Prehistoric Kingdom.

In-Game[]

Description[]

Triceratops is an instantly recognizable animal thanks to its iconic three horns, frilled skull, and incredible size. Similar in size to modern day elephants and covered in a thick pavement of large scales, this animal is the largest and highest rated Marginocephalian dinosaur in the game.

In Prehistoric Kingdom, Triceratops is divided amongst two species: T. prorsus and T. horridus, with each species having two skins. T. prorsus, although not vastly different from T. horridus, is notable for significant differences in the skull as well as being slightly larger. Due to extensive keratinization, T. prorsus horns swoop downwards instead of pointing upwards like T. horridus, as well as having a nasal boss that slants forward instead of simply protruding outwards. This is what differentiates between both species in-game.

Management[]

Both species prefer to live in coastal, temperate, wetland and tropical biomes.

In-Game Trivia[]

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Nigel Marven

Triceratops: One of the most recognizable and largest dinosaurs of its kind.


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Nigel Marven

Having lived alongside predators like the T. rex, those giant horns start to make a lot more sense. Now, let’s uh, not mix the two together.


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Nigel Marven

Just think, this species was completely eradicated in a mass extinction that killed three-quarters of the species on Earth, and 66 million years later, it has the chance to walk the Earth again. We are witnessing something truly remarkable!


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Nigel Marven

Several fossilized Triceratops have been given nicknames, like “Lane”, “Hatcher”, or “Homer”. Personally, I prefer names starting with T.


Paleontology[]

Triceratops is famous for being one of the first Ceratopsians discovered as well as for the high quality of its remains and its imposing size. It lived in the very latest years of the Cretaceous alongside Tyrannosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and Ankylosaurus and was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs before their extinction.

Triceratops was discovered in 1889 by Othniel Charles Marsh. and It's name means "three horned face".

Paleoecology[]

Battles between Triceratops and the apex predator Tyrannosaurus have been a staple of dinosaur pop culture and seem to have been frequent occurrences while these animals were alive. Many Triceratops individuals show healed injuries from Tyrannosaur predation attempts, with one individual seeming to have survived one of its horns being broken by the giant theropod. Many individuals were not so lucky however, with signs of Tyrannosaur feeding being plentiful on Triceratops bones. Some frill bones have been used to attempt to reconstruct the preferred prey processing methods of Tyrannosaurus, others even seem to show signs of possible play behavior.

Triceratops horns grew in while the animals were still quite small, with the horns seeming to point upwards and backwards at first and then slowly pointing forward as the animal came closer to maturity. This seems to indicate that even young individuals has some usage for these extravagant ornaments, as other ceratopsians such as Styracosaurus only grew out their larger horns much closer to adult size. This means Triceratops horns seem to have been quite useful as predator deterrence, but their most important function for many individuals likely was their usage against other members of their own species. Much like many modern horned animals such as Jackson's Chameleon and various ungulate mammals, current evidence points to Triceratops utilizing its horns in combat with rivals. Some Triceratops skulls even seem to bear scars of these colossal conflicts, with healed wounds in their skull bones matching the approximate locations of where enemy Triceratops horns were likely to hit.

Gallery[]


Trivia[]

  • Nigel's in-game trivia remark where he states that he prefers to give Triceratops names that start with a 'T' may be a reference to Prehistoric Park's Theo the Triceratops.
  • Triceratops is one of the few animals that exceeds 3 skins in-game alongside Tyrannosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Stegosaurus.
  • Triceratops was one of the dinosaurs available in the 2017 Prehistoric Kingdom demo.
  • One of the most iconic dinosaurs, Triceratops shares the five star ranking with its historic rival, Tyrannosaurus.
  • A separate model variant was shown as a statue in the Beta Announcement trailer with modified anatomy from the current model, it is unknown if this asset will be included in that form in the modern game but it was most likely scrapped.
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