Triceratops

Type Species: Triceratops horridus
Classification: Dinosauria – Ornithischia – Marginocephalia – Ceratopsia – Neoceratopsia – Coronosauria – Ceratopsoidea – Ceratopsidae - Chasmosaurinae - Triceratopsini
Time Period: late Cretaceous
Location: North America
Diet: Herbivore

Triceratops was, in one word, massive. Stocky legs built like iron suspended its barrel-like rib-cage. Its known for its three horns (two protruding from above the eyes and a third from the nose), but not all Triceratops specimens have three horns. These burly creatures would dwarf any of us in their shadow:

The brow horns probably had a horny covering, and the base of the horns was actually hollow. This open space is called a sinus; it helped to cushion the brain when the horns were "in action," acting as a shock absorber. These sinuses are found in modern-day goats, sheep, and cows. And while Triceratops is often portrayed as the stereotypical ceratopsian, its skull frill was unique: most ceratopsians had fenestrae, or open-air cavities, in their frills that would be covered with skin in real life. These fenestrae helped keep the frill relatively light. Triceratops lacked such cavities, rendering its frill extremely heavy (this explains why its frill was smaller than most ceratopsians of its size). Their large beaks were powerful and scissor-like, and they would've been able to slice clean through a human arm. Their jaws were lined with tightly-knit teeth used for grinding their food. Triceratops wasn't the brightest bulb on the dinosaur tree; its brain was small for its size, even smaller than those of the "duck-billed" ornithopods, or carnivores.

Healed wounds in Triceratops' frill show that this dinosaur had a burly temperament. This hot-headed dinosaur probably fought against others in its herd, warring over females, territory, or leadership. The horns may have served the same purpose as antlers in modern-day moose: rather than attacking members of the own herd, Triceratops may have vied for dominance by locking horns with an adversary and "wrestling" until the weaker backed down. The horns would've been helpful not just in battling other males but also in defending itself against predators; recent models suggest that the horns packed such a punch that they could shatter solid bone. Nothing in the world today could withstand the charge of a bull Triceratops, so any hungry tyrannosaurs would have to think twice before taking the bitch on.

he's thinking, "I should've thought twice..."