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tri-SER-uh-tops               TRICERATOPS                  [Three-Horned Face]
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     Triceratops was the last in a long line of plant grazing dinosaurs
(ceratopsians) that had "parrot beaks," neck frills and horns.  It lived
towards the end of the Cretaceous Period and had to defend itself against the
attacks of the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
     Triceratops weighed ten tons (about twice as much as a Tyrannosaurus)
and had three long horns that grew to four feet in length.  The beak of the
Triceratops was like the giant snapping turtle's and was able to cut tough
plants and administer sharp nips when attacked.
     Seeing a Triceratops skull in a natural history museum is an experience
not soon forgotten.  A fully-grown Triceratops skull can be up to ten feet
tall.  The frill or ridge towards the back of the skull was used to anchor the 
powerful muscles that were needed to work the parrot-beaked jaws.
     When provoked the Triceratops charged its enemy, like a modern rhinoceros.
Some paleontologists think that a Triceratops running at top speed could reach
thirty-five miles per hour.


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