Triceratops horridus

Length: 35 feet
Height: 15 feet
Weight: 10 tons

## **Coloration:**

*Male –* Green and brown mottled body with darker back
striping. Individuals may appear darker than others, often looking grey
or near black from distances.

*Female –* Brown-grey mottling with lighter brown back striping.

*Juvenile (both sexes) –* Brown and green mottled body.

## **Diet:**

Low-growing plants, from shrubs and ferns to fallen
fruits and tough woody vegetation. Triceratops will also sometimes
scavenge from animals already dead. The sharp beak and powerful jaws can
 crush bone with ease.

## **Social Structure:**

Herds of up to 15 individuals, mostly female.
 Dominant individuals are usually male, but in the absence of males
females are equally capable of filling in for dominant position. Like
bull elephants, some of the oldest, largest males are solitary and only
 locate herds in search of females.

## **Description:**

Large, quadrupedalal herbivore. Small nasal horn
with long brow horns, moderately elongated frill with small sharp
nodules decorating the edge. Sharp curved beak. Body large, bulky, and
robust. Young have poorly developed frills and stubby horns.

## **Behaviors:**

Like Stegosaurus, Triceratops is one of Isla Sorna's
 most easily-recognized dinosaurs, and it is also among the most
dangerous of the island's herbivores. Its head-end is well-protected -
as well as its sharp horns, its short frill is solid and bony, and
provides some protection around the neck region from the sharp teeth of
 its predators. Its back-end is vulnerable, and so Triceratops tends not
 to turn its back on an enemy; being capable of rapid turning in order
to keep a predator in its sights. Despite its bulk Triceratops can
charge alarmingly fast, throwing its weight and driving the double brow
 horns deep into the underbelly of an aggressor. Immensely powerful, a
 full-sized, healthy Triceratops is capable of lifting animals and
objects up to a tonne in weight with its head alone, and the deadly brow
 horns have the potential to inflict fatal wounds. Triceratops has even
 been known to kill a full grown Tyrannosaurus via impaling, while
smaller predators are typically mown down and trampled to death.

Triceratops has poor vision and relies on its sense of smell to detect
 danger. Much like a rhinoceros, Triceratops is quick to aggravate,
even by accident. Sometimes merely walking too close to a herd of these
 animals can prove to be risky business, as Triceratops has the
tendency to charge at anything that it may consider a threat to itself
or its young, be it a predator or a harmless herbivore. For this reason
 most predators avoid hunting this short-tempered herbivore unless they
 have the benefit of a pack.

Triceratops herds tend to have more females, with a few males taking
charge over three or four females each. Disputes are common amongst the
 males in particular, with jealous males wanting to add other males’
females to their own harems. In the absence of males, the most dominant
 females in an all-female herd will take charge, becoming more
aggressive and battling each other for dominance. Such disputes are
resolved by the famous head-pushing contests, whereby after a series of
 bellowing and elaborate displaying, two individuals will lock horns
and shove to and fro in tests of strength. These battles can be very
dangerous for the participants, as one or both of the opponents has the
 potential of losing a horn and thus having less a chance of winning
future fights and defending themselves effectively from predators. With
 the defeated males often being ousted from the herd, it is usually the
 case that their injuries distract them from the approach of hungry
carnivores and those with broken horns are at a serious disadvantage.
In some circumstances, some of the larger males (and occasionally
females) actually choose to live alone. With no herd members to help
look out for danger, a lone Triceratops' aggression heightens so much
so that it has the tendency to charge at anything without the slightest
 provocation. Therefore, most predators choose to leave them well
alone, preferring to go after easier prey that is less likely to put up
 a fight.

When a Triceratops herd is threatened by a big predator such as
Tyrannosaurus, the adult members bunch together to form a circle with
horns facing outwards, pushing the vulnerable infants into the center
behind the defensive wall. Not only does this protect the infants, but
it also keeps the defenseless tail-ends of the adults guarded against
attack from the rear. The adults outside the circle closest to the
threat will bellow, sway their large heads and stamp their feet in
unison in an attempt to deter the predator. Usually the most vocal and
aggressive in the defense of the herd are the males. The most dominant
of the males are likely to charge if the predator is unwise to stick
around.

Triceratops spends about a half of the day eating and one third
resting during the hottest part of the day, either standing idle in the
 shade or wallowed in mud beside rivers and lakes. Triceratops herds
thrive on the Game Trail and they have learned to co-exist in relative
harmony with the myriad of herbivores which share its habitat, as long
as the other species are respectful its personal space. Triceratops is
most likely to mingle with herds of Styracosaurus, and occasionally a
Triceratops herd can be seen walking beside a lone adult Mamenchisaurus,
 combining great size with horns and aggression and therefore making
these animals even less likely to be approached by their predators.

During the mating season, the male Triceratops flushes blood into the
 blood vessels running through his frill, making the frill appear tinged
 with red. Each male bellows and sways his head continuously to attract
 the females, and fights between males become commonplace as each one
tries to keep as many females as possible while preventing them from
wandering off to join rival males' harems. The noise caused by their
mating battles often attracts the lone, aggressive, larger-sized bulls
which wander between herds, and more often than not the females will
choose to side with them rather than the males of their own herds. The
jousting battles help to weed out the weak and the old, leaving only the
 best to sire the next generation.
 Several large nest bowls are made per herd, and two or three females
each deposit their eggs in a single nest. The young remain in the nest
and are fed chewed up plant material until they are big enough to move
around with the adults without the threat of being accidentally crushed
 underfoot. Juvenile Triceratops are very playful, and genders can be
distinguished by their distinct method of play. Females chase one
another and tend to stick close to the adults, while males are noisier
and a lot more rash; often play-fighting one another by bashing heads,
mimicking the jousting battles of the adults. While adult's calls are
composed of deep bellows, grunts, snorts and rumbles, the young's calls
 are higher in pitch, consisting of squeals, bleats and squeaks,
producing a shrill cry when scared.