Triceratops was the last and largest of the ceratopsians, the “horn-faced” dinosaurs – other familiar members of this group include Chasmosaurus, Styracosaurus, and Protoceratops. Triceratops existed from about 70-65.5 MYA, and measured 30 feet long. There are currently two confirmed species: T. horridus and T. prorsus; the first one is the more famous and numerous of the two. They can be distiguished by their short nasal horns. Triceratops horridus has a short fat nasal horn, positioned a considerable way up the snout, and sticks more or less straight up, perpendicular to the line of the skull. Triceratops prorsus has a somewhat longer and thinner nasal horn, it is positioned more to the front of the nose, and it is angled forward.
There’s also been a dispute raging over the past few years as to whether or not another ceratopsian species named Torosaurus is actually another older age stage of Triceratops. This is really complicated, so I won’t even bother to get involved in this academic brawl. All I can say is that this subject appears to be just as hotly and intensely debated as the whole dispute regarding T. rex as a predator or scavenger.
The drawing which you see here is Triceratops horridus. One thing that you’ll notice is how large the head is in proportion with the rest of its body. This is not artistic license – the head really was that big! The second thing that you’ll notice is the lack of detail on the skull, showing instead a scarred but still mostly smooth surface. Paleontologists including Jack Horner and Peter Larson suspect that the top of Triceratops’ skull, including its distinctive neck frill, was covered in a layer of keratin, the same stuff that your fingernails are made of. This horny / keratinous covering might have been colored dark, as horn tends to be, or it might have been bright red due to the numerous blood vessels which are imbedded into the frill’s structure. Perhaps the males were brightly and vividly-colored, while the females were more drab and subdued.
Triceratops, regardless of which particular species, was a very populous animal. In the Hell Creek Formation, 60% of the dinosaur fossils found there belong to Triceratops.
I started drawing this picture months ago, but I got stalled with my classes and with the publication process of my book, and so I had to stick it on the shelf. These past few days, I’ve tackled it hard and completed it. I used my preferred medium, regular No.2 pencil.
Goodbye, and I hope that all of you had a good holiday.
Categories: Paleontology, Uncategorized
DINOSAURS AND BARBARIANS 
After reading one of the Montana Dinosaur Trail exhibits about the blood vessels and likely keratin in the frill of Triceratops, I let my imagination run wild ….. What if, since keratin is also part of feathers, what if the Trike’s frill was actually the base for six-foot-long peacock-like feathers? Not practical, but when is male showiness in the pursuit of the female ever practical?!? I love the idea of these behemoths strutting about, waving their feathers in a dance to impress the girls!