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Description
Triceratops prorsus
Of all the dinosaurs, among the most famous, most iconic, and most recognizable is Triceratops. One of the last non-avian dinosaurs to thrive on our planet some 66,000,000 years ago. This species, Triceratops prorsus was among the last and largest of all ceratopsians that ever walked the earth.

History of Discovery and Naming:

Roughly around the time T.horridus was being described, another specimen of Triceratops was sent to Marsh. This was the second species of Triceratops described by him. The holotype consisted of a well-preserved cranium of the dinosaur. Roughly the same size as the holotype of T. horridus, but Marsh couldn't pass up an easy specimen to describe. Not much information exists on how the animal was found. It’s likely that at the time since he was in competition with his rival Edward Drinker Cope, he rushed to name as many as possible.

What is known is the name of this animal. Triceratops, meaning “3 horned face” for the generic name, and prorsus, derived from the Latin meaning, “Forward-Facing”. A reference to the more forward-facing horns of this dinosaur. This was the third species named, after the type species T. horridus and the original holotype specimen, thought to be T. alticornis (previously known as Bison alticornis as it was attributed to a Pliocene bison species).

What could not be known by Marsh is that over a century after it was named, T. prorsus and T. horridus would be the only species of this genera named.

Evolution and Taxonomy:

Triceratops is a ceratopsian. To be specific a member of Triceratopsini which is a tribe within Chasmosaurinae. Arising approximately 70,000,000 years ago, with animals like Regaliceratops and Eotriceratops being among the oldest of the tribe. Triceratops and its kin are unique among chasmosaurs, is that their frills became far sturdier, and less ornamental. While some, like Torosaurus and Regaliceratops retained fenestra (holes) in their frills, Triceratops is the most prominent chasmosaur that has entirely lost the fenestra.

As to why that is the case is puzzling. Perhaps it’s because they evolved these defenses to fend off Tyrannosaurus which co-existed with it. Selection pressures forced it to evolve further defenses to compete with the Tyrant Lizard King. Or perhaps it was to deter threats via displaying vibrant colors to rivals or predators.

T. horridus is the earliest species of Triceratops whereas T. prorsus itself was the last and (slightly) larger species.

Description:

Triceratops prorsus is a large ceratopsian dinosaur, among the largest if not the largest in the family. At around 30ft long and over 10ft in height and weighing in at more than 10 tons. Characteristic of all ceratopsians, it had a huge head, among the largest of any terrestrial animal, with some specimens having heads 7-8ft in length.

Even more iconic characteristic of this animal are the horns, which can be up to 3ft in length. The horn cores are more recurved than T. horridus as will be discussed later.

However, contrary to depictions in media, this is likely not their maximum length. It’s believed that these horns were just the bony cores as seen in some antelopes and bovines.

Likely there were layers of keratin on the exterior which even further lengthened them. The shape is subject to speculation, some think they curved forward, others backwards or straight.

Differences between it and the horrid horns:

At one point there were around 18 species of Triceratops. However, with the advent of cladistics and analysis of the fossil record of Triceratops, it is now known that there are just two species of Triceratops. The type species Triceratops horridus and another, younger species, Triceratops prorsus.

As for the differences, aside from being an older species, T. horridus is:

-Slightly larger than T. horridus

-Has smaller but forward-facing brow horn cores

-Has a more curved frill

-A shorter but deeper snout

-And a larger nasal horn

The Tale of Two Trikes:

As previously mentioned, there were once 18 species of Triceratops. However, by the end of the century its taxonomy was called into question. The bulk of the species were discovered during the bone wars, a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. It’s no surprise that they had their rivalry get in the way of heated scientific analysis.

Paleontologist of Yale Richard Swann Lull had begun an analysis of the different Triceratops species back in 1933, however, he classified them into two groups. One group, T. horridus, T. prorsus, and T. brevicornus. Another group consisted of T. elatus and T. calicornis. Another two other distal species were T. serratus and T. flabellatus. Thus, he cut down the recognized species down to 7.

In the 1980s when cladistic studies into prehistoric life was gaining steam, Yale Professor John Ostrom proposed that only the type species, T. horridus was valid. The main reason he arrived at that theory was that there is typically only one large animal in a region and Triceratops fit that bill perfectly. Proposing the different morphs in the frill morphology were due to pathological injuries or sexual dimorphism. The latter theory had John Ostrom stating that T. horridus, T. prorsus, and T. brevicornus species were females whereas T. calicornis and T. elatus morphs were males.

In 1996, this theory was contested by University of Chicago professor Catherine Foster. She proposed that T. prorsus and T. horridus were distinctive species based on morphological studies of the skulls of these two morphs. Furthermore, she stated that because the various fossils of T. horridus greatly outnumber those of T. prorsus, these morphs likely represent distinct species rather than differences between sexes.
It would not be until 2009 when paleontologists John Scanella and Denver Fowler solidified this theory with the dating of most of the two species. They found that T. horridus was an older species dated to roughly 68,000,000 years ago, and T. prorsus arose in the last million years of the dinosaurs’ reign.
Thus, these two species are (as of 2022,) the only valid species of Triceratops.

Habitat:

The environment Triceratops lived in was largely a flood plain environment interspersed with conifer forests and fern prairies. Flowering plants were abundant in this environment too. There were also some more prevalent modern foliage around like oak, pine, and palm trees. It was in this lush environment that Triceratops thrived in what is now the Rocky Mountains. The most Triceratops-rich dinosaur formation is Hell Creek with countless species being found in the region.

So much so that Triceratops is the most common species of dinosaur found in the Hell Creek Formation making up 40% of the fauna.

It lived alongside the large hadrosaur Edmontosaurus, the armored Ankylosaurus and of course the legendary Tyrannosaurus rex. As previously mentioned, this species is rarer than its earlier species, that may be due to preservation biases, but, it also could be because of the fact that the morph of T. prorsus did not have a lot of time to take hold and be present in this region.

Extinction:

Triceratops prorsus and its family would die out 66,000,000 years ago when an asteroid smashed into the earth marking the end of the non-avian dinosaurs.

Today, Triceratops lives on in museum halls as fossilized remains. A shadow of its former self when tens of millions of years ago, it dominated the American West’s floodplains and fern prairies.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, here’s my redone T. prorsus profile. Originally, I planned on doing it with two Triceratops locking horns, but ultimately, I settled on this design after getting into the Dinosauria series. Having seen the third episode of a Gorgosaurus dragging away a Lambeosaurus, I decided to replicate that scene but instead of a gorgo and lambeo, I went with a T. rex dragging a juvenile Triceratops.

Will this be in PMP? As I said in my T. horridus profile, absolutely. One of the stars of the show and I can’t wait to show off the scenes I have planned.

Basically to make this dinosaur, I took Tyranachu’s T. horridus and modified it to match the features seen in Yale’s specimen of T.prorsus. Furthermore, Arvalis’s Saurian growth series helped out a ton in making better skins for the animal. And like T. horridus I mainly just modified its profile to make one for T. prorsus. I should add I'll eventually do a feature on Triceratops growth series, but that will come later. In the mean time, hope you guys enjoy this profile and this pic of a group of Triceratops squaring off against a mother Tyrannosaurus!

Original Model and Skin for Triceratops by Tyranachu, modified by me:
Triceratops (Tyranachu) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Original Model and Skin for Tyrannosaurus by Tyranachu:
Tyrannosaurus (Tyranachu) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Description
Triceratops prorsus
Of all the dinosaurs, among the most famous, most iconic, and most recognizable is Triceratops. One of the last non-avian dinosaurs to thrive on our planet some 66,000,000 years ago. This species, Triceratops prorsus was among the last and largest of all ceratopsians that ever walked the earth.

History of Discovery and Naming:

Roughly around the time T.horridus was being described, another specimen of Triceratops was sent to Marsh. This was the second species of Triceratops described by him. The holotype consisted of a well-preserved cranium of the dinosaur. Roughly the same size as the holotype of T. horridus, but Marsh couldn't pass up an easy specimen to describe. Not much information exists on how the animal was found. It’s likely that at the time since he was in competition with his rival Edward Drinker Cope, he rushed to name as many as possible.

What is known is the name of this animal. Triceratops, meaning “3 horned face” for the generic name, and prorsus, derived from the Latin meaning, “Forward-Facing”. A reference to the more forward-facing horns of this dinosaur. This was the third species named, after the type species T. horridus and the original holotype specimen, thought to be T. alticornis (previously known as Bison alticornis as it was attributed to a Pliocene bison species).

What could not be known by Marsh is that over a century after it was named, T. prorsus and T. horridus would be the only species of this genera named.

Evolution and Taxonomy:

Triceratops is a ceratopsian. To be specific a member of Triceratopsini which is a tribe within Chasmosaurinae. Arising approximately 70,000,000 years ago, with animals like Regaliceratops and Eotriceratops being among the oldest of the tribe. Triceratops and its kin are unique among chasmosaurs, is that their frills became far sturdier, and less ornamental. While some, like Torosaurus and Regaliceratops retained fenestra (holes) in their frills, Triceratops is the most prominent chasmosaur that has entirely lost the fenestra.

As to why that is the case is puzzling. Perhaps it’s because they evolved these defenses to fend off Tyrannosaurus which co-existed with it. Selection pressures forced it to evolve further defenses to compete with the Tyrant Lizard King. Or perhaps it was to deter threats via displaying vibrant colors to rivals or predators.

T. horridus is the earliest species of Triceratops whereas T. prorsus itself was the last and (slightly) larger species.

Description:

Triceratops prorsus is a large ceratopsian dinosaur, among the largest if not the largest in the family. At around 30ft long and over 10ft in height and weighing in at more than 10 tons. Characteristic of all ceratopsians, it had a huge head, among the largest of any terrestrial animal, with some specimens having heads 7-8ft in length.

Even more iconic characteristic of this animal are the horns, which can be up to 3ft in length. The horn cores are more recurved than T. horridus as will be discussed later.

However, contrary to depictions in media, this is likely not their maximum length. It’s believed that these horns were just the bony cores as seen in some antelopes and bovines.

Likely there were layers of keratin on the exterior which even further lengthened them. The shape is subject to speculation, some think they curved forward, others backwards or straight.

Differences between it and the horrid horns:

At one point there were around 18 species of Triceratops. However, with the advent of cladistics and analysis of the fossil record of Triceratops, it is now known that there are just two species of Triceratops. The type species Triceratops horridus and another, younger species, Triceratops prorsus.

As for the differences, aside from being an older species, T. horridus is:

-Slightly larger than T. horridus

-Has smaller but forward-facing brow horn cores

-Has a more curved frill

-A shorter but deeper snout

-And a larger nasal horn

The Tale of Two Trikes:

As previously mentioned, there were once 18 species of Triceratops. However, by the end of the century its taxonomy was called into question. The bulk of the species were discovered during the bone wars, a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh. It’s no surprise that they had their rivalry get in the way of heated scientific analysis.

Paleontologist of Yale Richard Swann Lull had begun an analysis of the different Triceratops species back in 1933, however, he classified them into two groups. One group, T. horridus, T. prorsus, and T. brevicornus. Another group consisted of T. elatus and T. calicornis. Another two other distal species were T. serratus and T. flabellatus. Thus, he cut down the recognized species down to 7.

In the 1980s when cladistic studies into prehistoric life was gaining steam, Yale Professor John Ostrom proposed that only the type species, T. horridus was valid. The main reason he arrived at that theory was that there is typically only one large animal in a region and Triceratops fit that bill perfectly. Proposing the different morphs in the frill morphology were due to pathological injuries or sexual dimorphism. The latter theory had John Ostrom stating that T. horridus, T. prorsus, and T. brevicornus species were females whereas T. calicornis and T. elatus morphs were males.

In 1996, this theory was contested by University of Chicago professor Catherine Foster. She proposed that T. prorsus and T. horridus were distinctive species based on morphological studies of the skulls of these two morphs. Furthermore, she stated that because the various fossils of T. horridus greatly outnumber those of T. prorsus, these morphs likely represent distinct species rather than differences between sexes.
It would not be until 2009 when paleontologists John Scanella and Denver Fowler solidified this theory with the dating of most of the two species. They found that T. horridus was an older species dated to roughly 68,000,000 years ago, and T. prorsus arose in the last million years of the dinosaurs’ reign.
Thus, these two species are (as of 2022,) the only valid species of Triceratops.

Habitat:

The environment Triceratops lived in was largely a flood plain environment interspersed with conifer forests and fern prairies. Flowering plants were abundant in this environment too. There were also some more prevalent modern foliage around like oak, pine, and palm trees. It was in this lush environment that Triceratops thrived in what is now the Rocky Mountains. The most Triceratops-rich dinosaur formation is Hell Creek with countless species being found in the region.

So much so that Triceratops is the most common species of dinosaur found in the Hell Creek Formation making up 40% of the fauna.

It lived alongside the large hadrosaur Edmontosaurus, the armored Ankylosaurus and of course the legendary Tyrannosaurus rex. As previously mentioned, this species is rarer than its earlier species, that may be due to preservation biases, but, it also could be because of the fact that the morph of T. prorsus did not have a lot of time to take hold and be present in this region.

Extinction:

Triceratops prorsus and its family would die out 66,000,000 years ago when an asteroid smashed into the earth marking the end of the non-avian dinosaurs.

Today, Triceratops lives on in museum halls as fossilized remains. A shadow of its former self when tens of millions of years ago, it dominated the American West’s floodplains and fern prairies.
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, here’s my redone T. prorsus profile. Originally, I planned on doing it with two Triceratops locking horns, but ultimately, I settled on this design after getting into the Dinosauria series. Having seen the third episode of a Gorgosaurus dragging away a Lambeosaurus, I decided to replicate that scene but instead of a gorgo and lambeo, I went with a T. rex dragging a juvenile Triceratops.

Will this be in PMP? As I said in my T. horridus profile, absolutely. One of the stars of the show and I can’t wait to show off the scenes I have planned.

Basically to make this dinosaur, I took Tyranachu’s T. horridus and modified it to match the features seen in Yale’s specimen of T.prorsus. Furthermore, Arvalis’s Saurian growth series helped out a ton in making better skins for the animal. And like T. horridus I mainly just modified its profile to make one for T. prorsus. I should add I'll eventually do a feature on Triceratops growth series, but that will come later. In the mean time, hope you guys enjoy this profile and this pic of a group of Triceratops squaring off against a mother Tyrannosaurus!

Original Model and Skin for Triceratops by Tyranachu, modified by me:
Triceratops (Tyranachu) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom

Original Model and Skin for Tyrannosaurus by Tyranachu:
Tyrannosaurus (Tyranachu) | ZT2 Download Library Wiki | Fandom