Diceratops | Facts & Information

Diceratops belongs to the series of horned dinosaurs – ceratopsids – which had a snout finished with a parrot beak devoid of teeth, but provided with sharp edges. This prehistoric animal had a small horn on its nose, and above its eyes two huge curved horns with a pointed tip.

This enormous collar had several openings covered with thick and scaly skin, which greatly diminished its weight, and by its very different coloring from the rest of the body it fulfilled the role of attracting females during the mating period.

Also, by means of the shield and sharp horns the dinosaur had a fierce appearance, he managed to scare his enemies sometimes only by simple movements of the head, and by its large size it protected from blows vulnerable areas of the body-the neck and flanks.

When the males were in danger, the strongest specimens formed a circle around the females and the young to protect them from the attacks of predators. The cracks on the skeletons of some dinosaurs indicate that the males fought even among themselves, for supremacy in the herd and for the conquest of the females.

The forelimbs and hind limbs were long, strong and muscular, like thick spikes, ending with sturdy paws and hoofed claws. The massive body was supported by all four limbs, so the gait of this animal was always quadruped, the head was kept bent because of the enormous shield in the area of the nape, and the long and thick tail was held down, sometimes used as a defense weapon against prey animals.

The head had a mobility supported quite well by well-developed musculature and well anchored to the massive skeleton. The snout was strong, the jaws were provided with numerous teeth that had the role of shredding the broken plant bundles with the help of the beak, and the large nostrils positioned above show that the olfactory sense was very fine.

Fossil remains of this dinosaur were discovered in Wyoming (USA), and based on them in 1907 the American paleontologist R. S. Lull made the first detailed description of this species and named it Diceratops hatcheri.

It is suspected that this dinosaur lived in the Mesozoic era, in the Upper Cretaceous, about 67-65 million years ago. An adult Diceratops reached a length of 7-9 m and a weight of 5 tons.

Feeding Diceratops

These prehistoric animals lived in large flocks of hundreds or even thousands of specimens, populated forested areas and fed on plants at ground level.