Triceratops had three horns on its face. Its name means three-horned face. Two long horns grew above its eyes. One short horn was on its nose. Behind them was a bony frill. It had a beak, like a bird's. Its skull was one of the largest of any land animal.

It could grow to about 30 feet long. It weighed several tons. As of November 2026, guesses run from about 5 to 10 tons. Many of its fossils were found in Montana's Hell Creek rocks.

It was a plant-eater and did not eat meat. It probably ate low plants. Rows of teeth in the back of its jaws cut up tough plants. It lived in North America, about 68 to 66 million years ago.

Tyrannosaurus rex lived at the same time and place. What were the horns for? Scientists think it used its horns to fight other Triceratops. It may also have used them against predators, such as Tyrannosaurus. These are ideas from the fossils.

Two states picked it as their own. It is the official state dinosaur of Wyoming. It is also the state fossil of South Dakota. Scientists think it died out with all the other non-bird dinosaurs. This was after an asteroid hit near Mexico.

Words to know

• frill: bony neck shield
• fossils: bones in rock
• predators: animals that hunt
• asteroid: space rock