You know what my favorite dinosaur was as a kid? The Brontosaurus. Buuuut since the brontosaurus doesn't *really* exist, I'll tell you about my second favorite dinosaur: Triceratops.
These rhinoceros-looking creatures roamed the forested river valleys of western North America during the Late Cretaceous. Triceratops were one of the last dinosaurs standing, living up until just before the *BOOM* of the asteroid which sparked the Cretaceous-Tertiary (Cretaceous-Paleogene, for you nit-pickers) extinction event 65.5 million years ago.
As you may have noticed, Triceratops are the most easily recognizable creatures out there. They weighed nearly 6 tons, & measured 30ft long and 10ft tall. The adult skulls measured more than 6 feet in length (including the frill), with horns that grew to about 3 feet long. It's speculated that since their skulls were covered in keratin...the same shit your fingernails are made of...that they could have been quite colorful creatures.
Many ceratopsians had large frills on their heads, which may have been useful in protecting them while getting their asses kicked, but also in attracting a hot piece of ass. Their frill was much shorter than other ceratopsids, but was still just as effective at getting shit done. There is also evidence of blood vessels running throughout the skulls of Triceratops, which may have helped regulate body temperature (elephants use their large ears in the same manner).
It's been discovered, through a skin impression, that these dudes may have sported bristles covering their neck, back, and tail. These bristles would have looked quite similar to the quills of a porcupine, and are thought to be primitive versions of feathers.
Wait...large headpieces, bright colors, and feathers? Triceratops were like the drag queens of the Mesozoic! This makes these guys even more faaaaabulous!
Moving on...Triceratops had beak-like mouths with extremely powerful jaws, which were used for chomping on fibrous plants other herbivores would have likely avoided. Their teeth were arranged in groups called batteries, with each battery consisting of about 36-40 columns and three to five teeth stacked per column. Why were their teeth arranged in such a way, you ask? It's because Triceratops had anywhere from 400-800 teeth, all constantly being replenished throughout their lifetime, thus becoming the envy of hockey players everywhere.
In recent times, there has been speculation that Triceratops was actually just a juvenile Torosaurus. However, after analyzing 35 samples, it was found that there were many Triceratops specimens who were too old to be juveniles and Torosaurus specimens too young to be adults. Thank goodness, too. You already took one beloved dinosaur from us, science, we'll be damned if you take another!
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