Three-Horned Dinosaurs Triceratops Lived and Moved in Group [Study]

Three-Horned Dinosaurs Triceratops Lived and Moved in Group [Study]
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Database Center for Life Science (DBCLS))

"Jurassic Park" features triceratops in herds, and it might have gotten that right. According to researchers, these three-horned dinosaurs were not solitary; they lived in groups.

Triceratops Lived in Herds

A new study found that the ancient three-horned dinos, triceratops, were not solitary. No previous study supported the claim, but recent research discovered it was accurate.

Five of the dinosaur fossils were discovered by researchers in Wyoming, indicating that they lived and died in a group. When the researchers found the triceratops' remains in the summer of 2013, their initial goal had been to see a petrified tyrannosaurus. The discovery of more than 1,200 bones and bone fragments from these five triceratops during the following ten years suggested that the group perished together, most likely in a marsh of some sort. There were no other species' bones in the area.

"The material is of very good quality," paleontologist Jimmy de Rooij, who is writing his Ph.D. thesis on the discovery at Utrecht University, said in a statement. "This enabled us to show that these triceratops grew really slowly, for instance."

The five triceratops share everyday migratory existence, suggesting that they traveled together at least occasionally, according to studies conducted on their teeth' physical and chemical characteristics. This discovery validates a long-held notion about these ancient mammals, which excites the researchers.

"Naturalis, the national natural history museum of the Netherlands, now has the biggest triceratops find in the world, and Utrecht University has the first Dr Triceratops in the Netherlands. De Rooij's work didn't just result in research papers, but also in an exhibition about his findings," added Anne Schulp, a professor of paleontology at Naturalis and Utrecht University and De Rooij's supervisor.

The world tour exhibition will kick off at Naturalis in October. Visitors will see the five triceratops who lived and died together 67 million years ago.

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What Are Triceratops?

Triceratops are three-horned dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks and a large frill that could reach nearly 1 meter (3 feet) across. Their skulls are among the most significant and striking of any land animal.

Researchers believed that Tyrannosaurus used their horns when they attacked their enemies. A fragmentary Triceratops fossil found in 1997 exhibits a broken horn and bite marks resembling those of Tyrannosaurus. At least some Triceratops survived these confrontations, as evidenced by the fossils demonstrating that the horn healed after being bit. Fossil frills with puncture marks demonstrate that male Triceratops engaged in horn-based combat, most likely as a means of impressing females.

Approximately 68 to 66 million years ago, the triceratops was one of the most identifiable and well-known dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous period. Adults stood nine to 10 feet tall at the shoulder and may reach lengths of about 26 to 30 feet. As herbivores, its primary food source was the abundant low-lying vegetation seen throughout the Late Cretaceous period, including ferns and cycads.

Triceratops fossils have been discovered in North America, mainly in the western regions, especially in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and other states. During the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, approximately 66 million years ago, triceratops and numerous other dinosaur species faced extinction.