| Description | Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago (mya) in what is now North America. It is one of the last known non-avian dinosaur genera, and became extinct in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. The name Triceratops, which literally means "three-horned face", is derived from the Ancient Greek words τρί- (tri-) meaning "three", κέρας (kéras) meaning "horn", and ὤψ (ōps) meaning "face".
|
|---|
| Source Data | |
|---|
| Rank | genus |
|---|
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Reptilia : Dinosauria : Ceratopsidae : Triceratops |
|---|
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Chordata : Ornithischia : Ceratopsidae : Triceratops |
|---|
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted |
|---|
Classification
(PBDB,GBIF) | |
|---|
| Scientific Name | Triceratops Marsh, 1889 |
|---|
| Name Published In | Marsh, Othniel C. 1889. Notice of gigantic horned Dinosauria from the Cretaceous. The American Journal of Science, Series 3 38: 173-175. |
|---|
| Opinions (PBDB) | | Name | Rank | Opinion | Evidence | Author |
|---|
| Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Marsh, 1889 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated with evidence | Zittel, 1890 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated without evidence | Marsh, 1890 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Marsh, 1891 | | Triceratops | genus | subjective synonym of Agathaumas | stated without evidence | Baur, 1891 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Scelidosauria | stated without evidence | Seeley, 1892 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated without evidence | Winkler, 1893 | | Triceratops | genus | subjective synonym of Agathaumas | stated without evidence | Lydekker, 1893 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Marsh, 1895 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated without evidence | Gadow, 1897 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated with evidence | Gadow, 1898 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Lambe, 1899 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated with evidence | Gadow, 1901 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopidae | stated without evidence | Mansel-Pleydell, 1902 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Agathaumidae | stated without evidence | Lull, 1906 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Hatcher et al., 1907 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated with evidence | Tornier, 1913 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Brown, 1914 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Eoceratopsinae | stated without evidence | Lambe, 1915 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Joleaud, 1922 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated with evidence | Lull, 1924 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Gregory and Mook, 1925 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsinae | stated with evidence | Nopcsa, 1928 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Russell, 1930 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Lull, 1933 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Chakravarti, 1934 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsinae | stated without evidence | Huene, 1950 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | implied | Romer, 1956 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Parsch, 1963 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Estes, 1964 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Kuhn, 1964 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Monocloninae | stated with evidence | Tatarinov, 1964 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsia | stated without evidence | Ostrom, 1965 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | implied | Romer, 1966 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Swinton, 1970 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated with evidence | Ostrom and Wellnhofer, 1986 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Clemens, 1986 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | implied | Carroll, 1988 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated with evidence | Dodson and Currie, 1990 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated without evidence | Lehman, 1990 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated with evidence | Lehman, 1996 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated without evidence | Forster, 1996 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Eberth, 1997 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated without evidence | Dodson, 1997 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsinae | stated with evidence | Sereno, 1998 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Ceratopsidae | stated without evidence | Makovicky, 2001 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated with evidence | Dodson et al., 2004 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated without evidence | Farke, 2004 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated with evidence | Longrich, 2010 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated without evidence | Ryan et al., 2010 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated with evidence | Farke, 2011 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated without evidence | Maidment and Barrett, 2011 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Chasmosaurinae | stated with evidence | Fiorillo and Tykoski, 2012 | | Triceratops | genus | belongs to Triceratopsini | stated with evidence | Longrich, 2014 |
|
|---|
| Status (PBDB) | extinct |
|---|
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 5 |
|---|
| First Recorded Appearance | 83.5 - 70.6 Ma
Late/Upper Cretaceous |
|---|
| Last Recorded Appearance | 70.6 - 66.0 Ma
Late/Upper Cretaceous |
|---|
| Environment | terrestrial (based on Ceratopsia) |
|---|
| Motility | actively mobile (based on Ornithischia) |
|---|
| Diet | herbivore (based on Ceratopsia) |
|---|
| Reproduction | oviparous, dispersal=direct/internal,mobile (based on Ornithischia) |
|---|
| Ontogeny | accretion,modification of parts (based on Ornithischia) |
|---|
| Taphonomy | hydroxylapatite,compact or dense (based on Ornithischia) |
|---|
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | O. C. Marsh. 1889. Notice of gigantic horned Dinosauria from the Cretaceous. American Journal of Science 38:173-175 |
|---|
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triceratops |
|---|
| Marsh O. C. Notice of gigantic horned Dinosauria from the Cretaceous, American Journal of Science 38, 173-175 |
| Marsh O. C. Additional characters of the Ceratopsidae, with notice of new Cretaceous dinosaurs, American Journal of Science 39, 418-426 |
| Zittel K. A. v. , Handbuch der Palaeontologie. I. Abteilung Paleozoologie. III. Band. Vertebrata (Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves) [Handbook of Paleontology. Division I. Paleozoology. Volume III. Vertebrata (Pisces, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves)], xii-900 |
| Marsh O. C. Notice of new vertebrate fossils, The American Journal of Science, series 3 42, 265-269 |
| Marsh O. C. On the affinities and classification of the dinosaurian reptiles, American Journal of Science 50 300, 483-498 |
| Depéret C. Note sur les dinosauriens sauropodes & théropodes du Crétacé supérieur de Madagascar [Note on the sauropod and theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of Madagascar], Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, 3e série 24, 176-194 |
| Marsh O. C. The dinosaurs of North America, United States Geological Survey, 16th Annual Report, 1894-95 55, 133-244 |
| Gadow H. , A Classification of Vertebrata Recent and Extinct, xvii-82 |
| Lambe L. M. [Mr. L. M. Lambe reports as follows…], Geological Survey of Canada Summary Report 1898 part A, 182-190 |
| Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868 |
| Hatcher J. B., Lull R. S. (1905) Two new Ceratopsia from the Laramie of Converse County, Wyoming, The American Journal of Science, series 4 20 120, 413-419 |
| Hatcher J. B., Marsh O. C., et al (1907) The Ceratopsia, Monographs of the United States Geological Survey 49, 1-198 |
| Tornier G. (1913) Reptilia. Paläontologie [Reptilia. Paleontology], Handwörterbuch der Naturwissenschaften 8, 337-376 |
| Brown B. (1914) Cretaceous Eocene correlation in New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 25, 355-380 |
| Brown B. (1914) Anchiceratops, a new genus of horned dinosaurs from the Edmonton Cretaceous of Alberta. With discussion of the origin of the ceratopsian crest and the brain casts of Anchiceratops and Trachodon, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 33 33, 539-548 |
| Lambe L. M. (1915) On Eoceratops canadensis, gen. nov., with remarks on other genera of Cretaceous horned dinosaurs, Canada Geological Survey Museum Bulletin 12, Geological Series 24, 1-49 |
| Matthew W. D. (1915) , Dinosaurs, with Special Reference to the American Museum Collections. American Museum of Natural History, New York, 1-162 |
| Huene F. v. (1927) Contribución a la paleogeografía de Sud América [Contribution to the paleogeography of South America], Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de la República Argentina 30, 231-294 |
| Nopcsa B. F. (1928) The genera of reptiles, Palaeobiologica 1, 163-188 |
| Lull R. S. (1933) A revision of the Ceratopsia or horned dinosaurs, Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 3 3, 1-175 |
| Chakravarti D. K. (1934) On a stegosaurian humerus from the Lameta beds of Jubbulpore, Quarterly Journal of the Geological, Mining, and Metallurgical Society of India 6 3, 75-79 |
| Sternberg C. M. (1949) The Edmonton fauna and description of a new Triceratops from the Upper Edmonton Member: phylogeny of the Ceratopsidae, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 113, 33-46 |
| Huene F. v. (1950) Bemerkungen zu einem fremdartigen neuen Ceratopsiden [Remarks on an unusual new ceratopsid], Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1950, 347-351 |
| Romer A. S. (1956) , Osteology of the Reptiles, University of Chicago Press, 1-772 |
| Estes R. (1964) Fossil vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation, eastern Wyoming, University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 49, 1-187 |
| Tatarinov L. P. (1964) Nadotryad Dinosauria. Dinozavry [Superorder Dinosauria. Dinosaurs], Osnovy Paleontologii [Fundamentals of Paleontology] 12, 523-589 |
| Ostrom J. H. (1965) Cretaceous vertebrate faunas of Wyoming, Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook 19, 35-41 |
| Romer A. S. (1966) , Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd edition, 1-468 |
| Swinton W. E. (1970) , The Dinosaurs, Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1-331 |
| Lehman T. M. (1981) The Alamo Wash local fauna: a new look at the old Ojo Alamo fauna, Advances in San Juan Basin Paleontology. New Mexico University Press, Albuquerque, 189-221 |
| McIntosh J. S. (1981) Annotated catalogue of the dinosaurs (Reptilia, Archosauria) in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18, 1-67 |
| Russell D. A. (1984) A check list of the families and genera of North American dinosaurs, Syllogeus 53, 1-35 |
| Breithaupt B. H. (1985) Nonmammalian vertebrate faunas from the Late Cretaceous of Wyoming, Wyoming Geological Association 36th Annual Field Conference Guidebook: The Cretaceous Geology of Wyoming, 159-175 |
| Ostrom J. H., Wellnhofer P. (1986) The Munich specimen of Triceratops with a revision of the genus, Zitteliana 14, 111-158 |
| Tokaryk T. T. (1986) Ceratopsian dinosaurs from the Frenchman Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Saskatchewan, Canadian Field-Naturalist 100 2, 192-196 |
| Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698 |
| Dodson P., Currie P. J. (1990) Neoceratopsia, The Dinosauria. University of California Press, Berkeley, 593-618 |
| Lehman T. M. (1996) A horned dinosaur from the El Picacho Formation of West Texas, and review of ceratopsian dinosaurs from the American Southwest, Journal of Paleontology 70 3, 494-508 |
| Sereno P. C. (1998) A rationale for phylogenetic definitions, with application to the higher-level taxonomy of Dinosauria, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 210 1, 41-83 |
| Makovicky P. J. (2001) A Montanoceratops cerorhynchus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) braincase from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 243-262 |
| You H.-L., Dodson P. (2003) Redescription of neoceratopsian dinosaur Archaeoceratops and early evolution of Neoceratopsia, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48 2, 261-272 |
| Dodson P., Forster C. A., et al (2004) Ceratopsidae, In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson & H. Osmólska (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley, 494-513 |
| Farke A. A. (2004) Ceratopsid dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Almond Formation of southwestern Wyoming, Rocky Mountain Geology 39 1, 1-5 |
| Diem S., Archibald J. D. (2005) Range extension of southern chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaurs into northwestern Colorado, Journal of Paleontology 79 2, 251-258 |
| Ryan M. J. (2007) A new basal centrosaurine ceratopsid from the Oldman Formation, southeastern Alberta, Journal of Paleontology 81 2, 376-396 |
| Wu X.-C., Brinkman D. B., et al (2007) A new ceratopsid dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the uppermost Horseshoe Canyon Formation (upper Maastrichtian), Alberta, Canada, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 44, 1243-1265 doi:10.1139/E07-011 |
| Hunt R. K., Lehman T. M. (2008) Attributes of the ceratopsian dinosaur Torosaurus, and new material from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of Texas, Journal of Paleontology 82 6, 1127-1138 |
| Mateus O. (2008) Two ornithischian dinosaurs renamed: Microceratops Bohlin 1953 and Diceratops Lull 1905, Journal of Paleontology 82 2, 423 |
| Longrich N. R. (2010) Mojoceratops perifania, a new chasmosaurine ceratopsid from the late Campanian of western Canada, Journal of Paleontology 84 4, 681-694 doi:10.1666/09-114.1 |
| Ott C. J., Larson P. L. (2010) A new, small ceratopsian dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation, northwest South Dakota, United States: a preliminary description, New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 203-218 |
| Ryan M. J., Russell A. P., et al (2010) A new chasmosaurine ceratopsid from the Judith River Formation, Montana, New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 181-188 |
| Sullivan R. M., Lucas S. G. (2010) A new chasmosaurine (Ceratopsidae, Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico, New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 169-180 |
| Xu X., Wang K.-B., et al (2010) First ceratopsid dinosaur from China and its biogeographical implications, Chinese Science Bulletin 55 16, 1631-1635 doi:10.1007/s11434-009-3614-5 |
| Jasinski S. E., Sullivan R. M., et al (2011) Taxonomic composition of the Alamo Wash local fauna from the Upper Cretacoues Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico, Fossil Record 3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 53, 216-271 |
| Maidment S. C. R., Barrett P. M. (2011) A new specimen of Chasmosaurus belli (Ornithischia: Ceratopsidae), a revision of the genus, and the utility of postcrania in the taxonomy and systematics of ceratopsid dinosaurs, Zootaxa 2963, 1-17 |
| Fiorillo A. R., Tykoski R. S. (2012) A new Maastrichtian species of the centrosaurine ceratopsid Pachyrhinosaurus from the North Slope of Alaska, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 57 3, 561-573 |
| Longrich N. R., Field D. J. (2012) Torosaurus is not Triceratops: ontogeny in chasmosaurine ceratopsids as a case study in dinosaur taxonomy, PLoS ONE 7 2, e32623 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032623 |
| Longrich N. R. (2014) The horned dinosaurs Pentaceratops and Kosmoceratops from the upper Campanian of Alberta and implications for dinosaur biogeography, Cretaceous Research 51, 292-308 doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2014.06.011 |
| Jasinski S. E. (2015) A new dromaeosaurid (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico, Fossil Record 4. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 67, 79-88 |
| Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
| Amer. J. Sci., (3) 38 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera |
Triceratops ✝
Triceratops prorsus ✝
