Triceratops is a genus of horned dinosaur (family: Ceratopsidae) that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous, about 68–66 million years ago. Its name means "three-horned face" derived from ancient Greek: τρί- (tri-) meaning "three", κέρας (kéras) meaning "horn", and ὤψ (ops) meaning "face".

Triceratops was armed with three sharp horns and a solid bony frill that could serve as a shield to its neck.  The brow horn cores measured 90-115 cm long and may have been longer when covered with keratin sheath while it was alive. They were sharp, strong, and robust, perfectly suited for combat. Combined with its bulk, this bulldozer, built for a frontal attack, could stand up to the power of T. Rex and defend itself successfully in combat. There is even documentation in fossil records of a Triceratops surviving an attack by a Tyrannosaurus rex, and recently, a Tyrannosaurus fossil with a puncture wound matching a Triceratops horn was discovered. Although an herbivore and usually peaceful, when Triceratops was disturbed or provoked, it was a very dangerous animal, capable of both impaling and trampling whatever stood in its path.

Triceratops was one of the largest Ceratopsians, measuring 8–9 meters long and weighing about 6,000–12,000 kg. It stood up to a height of 3 meters. It was as big as a bull African elephant.  It was a quadruped herbivore with a very efficient digestive system which included a dental battery and a sharp horny beak that could handle even the toughest vegetation. There were probably two species of Triceratops: T. horridus and T. prorsus. They are known mainly from the Maastrichtian layers of the Lance Formation and Hell Creek Formation in the northwest United States but were also discovered in other places such as Alberta, Canada. Had they not been confined by oceans and the Western Interior Seaway, they would probably expand even further.

Triceratops was one of the most successful dinosaurs of its time (and the most common in its habitat) and the last to stand before the K-Pg extinction wiped out all dinosaurs (excluding the avelians, a.k.a birds). Today, it is one of the most famous, popular, and well-known dinosaurs, rivaled only by the fearsome Tyrannosaurus and the huge Apatosaurus. It was named and described by Prof. Othniel Charles Marsh, with the help of fossil hunter John Bell Hatcher. 

Triceratops is my favorite dinosaur and this is why I have created this webpage. Emphasis was placed on reliable and scientifically accurate information, but as paleontological research advances, our body of knowledge and general view of dinosaurs, and in particular, Triceratops, may change rapidly.