Q 01/05

What does the name Triceratops mean?

A) Three-crested head

B) Triple-shield lizard

C) Thrice-armoured beast

D) Three-horned face

Answer · why

D) Three-horned face

From the Greek tri, keras and ops; the 'ops' ending is 'face', not 'lizard'.

Q 02/05

Triceratops lived roughly how many million years ago?

A) 69 to 66

B) 169 to 166

C) 96 to 90

D) 210 to 200

Answer · why

A) 69 to 66

That makes it one of the very last non-avian dinosaurs, alive right up to the extinction event.

Q 03/05

Which large predator shared the landscape with Triceratops and most likely preyed on it?

A) Allosaurus

B) Spinosaurus

C) T. rex

D) Giganotosaurus

Answer · why

C) T. rex

Charles Knight's 1928 mural at the Field Museum fixed the pair as enemies in the popular imagination.

Q 04/05

Triceratops measured about how long?

A) 4 to 5 m

B) 15 to 16 m

C) 8 to 9 m

D) 20 to 22 m

Answer · why

C) 8 to 9 m

And weighed 6 to 10 tonnes, with a rhino-like body plan.

Q 05/05

Modern interpretations suggest Triceratops's horns and frill were primarily used for what?

A) Fighting off predators such as tyrannosaurs

B) Digging up roots and tubers to eat

C) Species recognition, courtship and display

D) Regulating body temperature in the sun

Answer · why

C) Species recognition, courtship and display

The traditional view was pure defence; today most researchers see them mainly as signals, though combat scars show they were used too.