Triceratops, the three-horned frilled plant-eating dinosaur that everyone knows and loves, may have had a secret weapon in its 800 teeth. New research shows there was a lot more to Triceratops’ bite than meets the eyes.

Triceratops is one of the most iconic dinosaurs of all time. First found in the late 1800s by famous fossil hunter Othniel Charles Marsh, it is one of the most numerous and most studied dinosaurs ever. There is seemingly always more to learn about this interesting creature.





Back in 2010, some researchers made quite a shocking claim: that a dinosaur called Torosaurus was actually elderly Triceratops. A lot of media outlets sensationalized this story with incorrect information about Triceratops never having existed. The jury’s still out on this one, but it’s Torosaurus and not Triceratops that may never have existed.





Triceratops fossils are very common in Montana’s Hell Creek Formation. This rock bed from the Late Cretaceous Period is well-known for its abundance of different plants and animals, including perhaps the most famous dinosaur of all time, Tyrannosaurus rex. T. rex very likely dined on Triceratops. But Triceratops was an exclusive plant eater, feasting on palms, cycads and maybe even ferns. These plants were not very nutritious. New research suggests that our frilled friend had secret weapons—their teeth.