Triceratops

"This was one of my favorite dinosaurs when I was a kid and now I see she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

- Alan Grant

Triceratops was a very common dinosaur which lived at the very end of the Cretaceous period. It had a huge frilled head with horns over each eye that could reach over 4 feet long. Triceratops had a third, smaller horn on its nose. These would be fearsome weapons against a predator.

Triceratops is one of the most common dinosaur fossils found. More than 50 skulls have been found. Within the genus, at least 7 species have been identified. The ceratopsian family is one of the most successful and varied of the Late Cretaceous. Triceratops is the largest member of this family, reaching the size of a school bus.

Triceratops was a herd animal; it is believed that large groups roamed North America. Their large, horny beaks and long rows of teeth were well designed for chewing the tough, low growing plants of the Late Cretaceous. It was likely the main predator of these animals was Tyrannosaurus rex. A number of skeletons show bite and chew marks that match the teeth of T. rex. Horns and frills seemed to vary among individuals within the species. Some frills were very broad, others narrow. The nasal horn shows the most variance among individual specimens, no two being the same. The material that covered its horns in life would have added significantly to the length of the fossilized bone.

In 2009 researchers under supervision of Jack Horner argued that Triceratops was actually a juvenile version of Torosaurus. The massive frill of Triceratops would grow longer and thinner in time, until it may have had the same holes as seen in Torosaurus (see ). However, this evidence has yet to be fully accepted by the scientific community.



Jurassic Park Franchise
Triceratops was one of the most famous dinosaurs for a long time. Stephen Spielberg said it was his favorite dinosaur. Triceratops appears in both novels and all three movies. Triceratops also appears in many toy lines, video games and comics.

Jurassic Park (novel)
A herd of 8 Triceratops live on Isla Nublar''. They reside in an area called Triceratops Territory along with Styracosaurus and Euplocephalus''. It is revealed in the novel that the Triceratops'' have to be separated into groups of less than six. If not, they appear to lock horns and sometimes kill each other in death duels for dominance. Because no frog DNA was used to clone the Triceratops, no reproduction is observed among them. However, the Triceratops are observed staging duels for dominance, something that males of a species do to assert their dominance or gain dominance of a group. This seeming contradiction is never explained. Lex Murphy names an infant Triceratops'' Ralph. By the end of the novel, there are only 6 left, all of which are later killed in the Napalm Bombing.

The Lost World
A herd of Triceratops live on Isla Sorna. It consists of many adults and one juvenile. They seem to stay close to the river. The herd is the second dinosaur species that Malcolm, Thorne, and Eddie encounter when they begin their expedition on the island. The Triceratops are later seen fighting off a pack of raptors. The trikes appear to be pale brown and take good care of their young.Despite their huge size, they make high-pitched barking sounds like dogs.

The group met up with park veterinarian Gerry Harding, who was taking care of a sick Triceratops, explaining to the group that he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. While Grant and Malcolm marveled at the sight, Ellie managed to figure out that the Triceratops had gotten sick from accidentally ingesting the toxic plant West Indian Iliac, thinking they were gizzard stones. However, this is in a deleted scene.

Triceratops was the size of an elephant, with the truculent stance of a rhino. The horns above each eye curved four feet into the air, looking almost like inverted elephant tusks. A third, smaller, rhino-like horn was located near the nose, above the animal's beak-like snout.

Unlike other dinosaurs, Triceratops couldn't see very well. They were nearsighted, much like the rhinos of today, and tended to be surprised by sudden movements. They'd charge the tour jeeps if they were close enough to see it but the tracks were located a safe distance away.



On Isla Nublar, males would kill each other in fights for dominance and had to be separated into groups smaller than six.

Triceratops have a fan-shaped crest behind their heads, made of solid bone, and is very strong. Despite their appearance, they are actually quite docile. They form relationships with their handlers, much like Indian elephants, and will allow themselves to be petted. They particularly like to be scratched in the hindquarters.

All Triceratops seen so far have been brown in color, although the Triceratops in "The Lost World" board game is blue.

Originally, an infant Triceratops was supposed to appear in the film, but was ultimately cut at the last minute. The infant was later ultimately reappeared in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Jurassic Park: The Game
thumb|300px|right Triceratops appears in Telltale's game Jurassic Park: The Game. The herd of Triceratops is first seen in the Welcome to Jurassic Park scenario. Gerry Harding and his daughter Jess are looking at the herd. The Alpha Female of the herd is Lady Margaret, one of the offspring is Bakhita. According to Dr. Laura Sorkin's journal and Dr. Harding's observation of Bakhita, the Triceratops have a fondness for banana leaves.

The animal is seen again in Gate Crashers and Triceratops Trouble, where it attacked Gerry and his daughter and later fought the escaping Tyrannosaurus.

The Game also features the latest research on Triceratops. Dr. Sorkin's Journal says that

as our Triceratops mature, holes open up in their frill bones. At first I thought it was another nucleotide sequencing error. Now it's clear that Triceratops and Torosaurus are the same species. I'm still not sure why the morphology changes with age like that. Status recognition?

This is an allusion to Jack Horner's 2009 research that indicates that Triceratops was actually the juvenile form of Torosaurus.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Triceratops appears in. An adult and juvenile Triceratops were among the animals captured by the InGen Hunters on a game trail. Once freed by Nick and Sarah, the adult Trike attacked the hunters camp; along with the rest of the released dinosaurs. On the thermal signatures focusing on Isla Sorna's perimeter Triceratops is located on mostly all regions of the island.

Jurassic Park III
In a herd of Triceratops is seen very briefly when the plane flies above the herd of grazing animals which includes Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus, Parasaurolophus and Corythosaurus.

Jurassic World
In, Triceratops is in the new park living in Triceratops Territory.

Warpath: Jurassic Park
Triceratops is a playable character in Warpath: Jurassic Park who shares the same fighting style with Styracosaurus and has 3 colors: red, green, and purple.

Jurassic Park: Trespasser
Triceratops appears in Jurassic Park: Trespasser. It first appears in Jungle Road. It is also encountered in the The Lab. Triceratops can hurt the player with its horns if one walks too close.

A cut stampede scene from the game was originally stated to be featured.

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis
see Triceratops/Operation Genesis

Triceratops is a five-star dinosaur in the popular video game, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis. It can be found in the Hell Creek Site B fossil formation. Triceratops is the only herbivore that needs security higher than "low", as it requires "medium" security fences. It will charge Land Cruisers and kill large carnivores and can be paired with Torosaurus or Styracosaurus in an enclosure. It is the game's most robust herbivore. Also it can go into "Death Duels" with Tyrannosaurus. Sometimes, the Tyrannosaurus wins, but other times the Trike wins. There are two ways T. rex can be killed by Triceratops. One way is to stab the Tyrannosaurus repeatedly until the beast falls over and dies, which is common when herds of this animal stab the Tyrannosaurus rex together. Another way that T. rex can be killed by a Trike is by impaling, in which a Tyrannosaurus stomps on the head shield of the Triceratops-but the Trike impales the rex through the chest before the T. rex can bite the area behind the neck.

Other

 * In the console game as an enemy in the raptor and T. rex levels.
 * In the arcade game the player must rescue one from being eaten by two raptors. If the player(s) succeed they will go to the next chapter. If they failed, the players must fend off more raptors. Players can also see a Triceratops collapsing to its death (by raptors, judging by its wounds) when a hunter tells the player(s): "they wiped us out!".
 * In the SEGA Genesis game it will only attack if it was hurt, or if there were carnivores nearby.
 * In Jurassic Park III: Park Builder, Triceratops is nr. 101 of the Herbivore Threes. Triceratops Lhorn is nr. 102 of the Herbivore Threes.
 * Triceratops is the available dinosaur on the IOS application, Jurassic Park: Builder. It is the first dinosaur you can create.

Toy lines
A Triceratops figure has been released in every Jurassic Park toy line. The most well known figure is the Jurassic Park Series 1 Triceratops which evokes a feeling of nostalgia in many fans.

Another Triceratops figure was also going to be released in The Lost World Series 2 toy line, but its release was cancelled and was met with disappointment from the fans. The cause of the toys cancellation was most likely due to the sharp horns that could be a potential hazard to children. The mold was repainted for the Chaos Effect toy line, but became cancelled again, making it one of the most well known of unproduced Jurassic Park toys.

Trivia

 * Despite being a popular dinosaur and appearing in all three films, Triceratops is seen only for a short time in the sequels. It only appeared for a minute in the 2nd film and a few seconds in the 3rd film.
 * Triceratops is one of the few dinosaurs to appear in all the first three films. The others are Parasaurolophus, Tyrannosaurus rex, and, of course, Velociraptor.
 * The number of Triceratops in each film seem to be greater than the ones from previous films. In the first film, there is 1 Triceratops. In the second film there are 2. And in the third, there is a herd.
 * In Jurassic Park III several Triceratops can be seen with zebra-like stripes on them much like the Tyrannosaurus and Male Parasaurolophus seen. However this is the same texture that was used for the bull in The Lost World Jurassic Park as you can see the Bull Triceratops had white stripes and dark brown coloration. It was used again in Jurassic Park III, but an unused texture can be seen in the making of and the turntables though.