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"She was my favorite when I was a kid. Now I see her, she's the most beautiful thing I ever saw."
Alan Grant(src)

Triceratops was a very common dinosaur which lived at the very end of the Cretaceous period. It had a huge frilled head with horns over each eye that could reach over 3 feet long. Triceratops had a third, smaller horn on its nose. These would be fearsome weapons against a predator.[1]

Triceratops is one of the most common dinosaur fossils found. More than 50 skulls have been found. Within the genus, at least 7 species have been identified. The ceratopsian family is one of the most successful and varied of the Late Cretaceous. Triceratops is the largest member of this family, reaching the size of a school bus.[1]

Triceratops was a herd animal; it is believed that large groups numbering into the hundreds roamed North America. Their large, horny beaks and long rows of teeth were well designed for chewing the tough, low-growing plants of the Late Cretaceous. It was likely the main predator of these animals was Tyrannosaurus rex. A number of skeletons show bite and chew marks that match the teeth of T. rex. Horns and frills seemed to vary among individuals within the species. Some frills were very broad, others narrow. The nasal horn shows the most variance among individual specimens, no two being the same. The material that covered its horns in life would have added significantly to the length of the fossilized bone.[1]

In 2009 researchers under supervision of Jack Horner argued that Triceratops was actually a juvenile version of Torosaurus. The massive frill of Triceratops would grow longer and thinner in time, until it may have had the same holes as seen in Torosaurus (see Triceratops#Torosaurus as growth stage of Triceratops). However, this evidence is still open to criticism and is still yet to be fully accepted by the scientific community.

Wikipedia has a more detailed and comprehensive article on Triceratops


Jurassic Park 3D infochart


Thirteen Triceratops were created by InGen[2] in their compound[3] on Isla Sorna where they were taken care of by the workers there.[2]

Triceratops were highly sociable. However, they were also aggressive as well, so they had to be treated with care.[2] They had two skin variations, one being brown[4][2] and the other being beige with stripes down the back.[3]

Unlike the originals, these clones have elephant-like feet instead of pronounced claws on the innermost of three of its five toes and have jugal horns on their cheeks instead of one.[1] The adult clones have epoccipitals on their frills instead of the juveniles.[2]

At the age of about a few months, three Triceratops were taken to live on Isla Nublar to live as an attraction for InGen's Jurassic Park.[2]They lived in their own paddock[4]

InGen's Triceratops ranged from 8.8 to 10.7 meters (29-35 feet) in length and 2.7 to 4.6 meters (9-15 feet) in height, with the largest individuals being encountered on Isla Sorna in 2001.

Isla Nublar Incident (1993)

Just before the endorsement team's tour of Jurassic Park, a Triceratops fell ill from eating West Indian Lilac, confusing their berries for gastroliths.[5]


During the endorsement team's tour, Dr. Gerry Harding had game warden Robert Muldoon tranquilize the ill individual so it wouldn't be aggressive around him.[4]

While he investigated the cause of its illness, the endorsement team went inside the paddock after Dr. Alan Grant heard the dinosaur's moans. Dr. Grant hugged the Trike upon seeing it. While observing the dinosaur, Dr. Ellie Sattler discovered that the Triceratops was sick and decided to stay behind with Dr. Harding to find the cause of its illness.[4]

When Dennis Nedry disabled most of Jurassic Park's security systems, Triceratops was one of the many dinosaurs that were able to roam freely.[4]

The sick Triceratops in 1993 was later found dead during the island clean up in 1994 with "Tyrannosaur bite marks" on the cadaver[6].

Wild on Isla Sorna

When Hurricane Clarissa hit Isla Sorna, the InGen workers on the island evacuated the island. The Trikes were either freed by the workers or escaped their own cages on their own. In the wild, they ate Lysine rich plants to counter the Lysine contingency.[2]They occupied most of the island.[7]

Isla Sorna Incident (1997)


During the Isla Sorna Incident of 1997 the InGen Hunters captured an adult and a juvenile Triceratops. These individuals were later freed by Gatherers Nick Van Owen and Dr. Sarah Harding. When the adult was freed it rammed through the projector screen Peter Ludlow was using when giving a speech to his co-workers. The Triceratops also flung a car right at the treestand that Roland Tembo and Ajay Sidhu were in, but they jumped out of it in time before they were killed.[2]


It is unknown what happened to Triceratops after their escape.

Isla Sorna Rescue Mission|Isla Sorna Incident (2001)

Triceratops in TLW.

While aboard N622DC, Dr. Alan Grant saw a herd of Triceratops and pointed it out to his group.[3]

Jurassic World

A baby Triceratops from Jurassic World.

InGen created new clones of Triceratops for Masrani Global Corporation's Jurassic World on Isla Nublar.[8] These clones were identical to the brown skinned clones that were created. They were slightly more social than the previous recreation, liking to be scratched under their frills[9] and having their photo taken. However, like the old clones they still had trouble discerning what was edible for them, at least when they were juveniles.[10] The adults lived in the Gyrosphere[8] and the self-titled Triceratops Territory, but the juveniles, or at least some of the juveniles, lived in the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo where they could be petted and even ridden by human children.[10]

Isla Nublar Incident (2015)

When the freed residents of the Jurassic World Aviary attacked the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo a juvenile Triceratops was grabbed by a Pteranodon.[8]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Triceratops adult and youngster in cage under Lockwood Manor in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Triceratops is one of the noted dinosaur species that Claire Dearing wished to rescue off of Isla Nublar, and one that Eli Mills planned to capture for the Lockwood Manor Auction. A number of Triceratops appear on Isla Nublar fleeing from the erupting Mount Sibo. At least seven Triceratops were captured.

Two adults and a infant appear in a cage while Owen Grady and Claire are imprisoned, while being noted by the latter as she was expressing the wonders of seeing living, breathing dinosaurs. These individuals were a part of the group of dinosaurs that were saved by Maisie Lockwood after nearly dying to a hydrogen cyanide leak. Another infant and a mother Triceratops were last shown running off into the forest of Northern California.

The Triceratops occupied two triple cages inside the mansion. An adult and a young one were contained in cage 8-6 in the first cage installation. Two other adults and a baby lived in the second facility, in cages 18-6. It is worth noting the fact that at least one adult Triceratops occupies 2 basement cages.

While an animatronic Triceratops was seen in a couple of leaked photos during filming on set in Oahu, Hawaii, it did not seem to have been shown in the movie's theatrical release.


Promotional Images

Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Jurassic World

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom



  • In Jurassic Park III several Triceratops can be seen with zebra-like stripes on them much like the Tyrannosaurus and Male Parasaurolophus seen. However this is the same texture that was used for the bull in The Lost World Jurassic Park as you can see the Bull Triceratops had white stripes and dark brown coloration. It was used again in Jurassic Park III, but an unused texture can be seen in the making of and the turntables though.

Behind the scenes

  • Despite being a popular dinosaur and appearing in all five films, Triceratops is seen only for a short time in the sequels. It had its own animatronic in Jurassic Park, and was seen for a few minutes. However, in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, it only appeared for a minute, with two of them. In Jurassic Park III, its time is reduced even more, as a herd of them appears only for a few seconds, as this would make people think that Triceratops didn't appear in the 3rd film, and broke its streak of appearing in all films. However, both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom breaks this trend of short time, but also made Triceratops get short screen time for a couple of minutes.
  • The number of Triceratops in each film seem to be greater than the ones from previous films. In the first film, there is 1 Triceratops. In the second film, there are 2, one adult and one juvenile. And in the third, fourth and fifth, there are herds.
  • Torosaurus being a mature form of Triceratops in Jurassic Park: The Game is an allusion to Jack Horner's research in 2009.
  • The Triceratops animatronic from Jurassic Park was originally painted black with faint green spots, but Stan Winston told his team to pour and rub dirt on the animatronic citing large herbivores like elephants and rhinoceroses tend to be covered with dirt of their environment.[11] Since then, Triceratops in the franchise is popularly depicted with brown skin, though the a notable exception would be Jurassic Park III.
  • The Triceratops horn from Jurassic Park III: Park Builder resembles the curving away horn of Centrosaurus and the brow horns of the mammal Synthetoceras.
  • Stan Winston Studio constructed a 25-foot Triceratops animatronic for Jurassic Park that laid on its side with a moving rib cage, mouth, and tail.[12]
  • Right before production of the first movie left for Hawaii, the planned scene of Lex riding a baby Triceratops was scrapped. A 5-foot-long fully mechanical version of the dinosaur was two weeks from completion. It had full motion of the legs, head and neck, face, and tail.[13][14] The animatronic would later be reused for The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
  • In early CGI production of the dinosaur stampede during the pyroclastic flow in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, an Allosaurus was originally going to show the dinosaur attempting to ambush a juvenile Triceratops before being gored to death by the infant's mother. However, this was removed from the final film.



Jurassic Park Dinosaurs
BrachiosaurusDilophosaurusGallimimusParasaurolophusTriceratopsTyrannosaurus rexVelociraptor
Jurassic Park: The Game Dinosaurs
CompsognathusDilophosaurusHerrerasaurusParasaurolophusPteranodonTroodonTriceratopsTylosaurusTyrannosaurus rexVelociraptor
The Lost World: Jurassic Park Dinosaurs
CompsognathusGallimimusMamenchisaurusPachycephalosaurusParasaurolophusPteranodonStegosaurusTriceratopsTyrannosaurus rexVelociraptor
Jurassic Park III Dinosaurs
AnkylosaurusBrachiosaurusCeratosaurusCompsognathusCorythosaurusParasaurolophusPteranodonSpinosaurusStegosaurusTriceratopsTyrannosaurus rexVelociraptor
Jurassic World Dinosaurs
AnkylosaurusApatosaurusDimorphodonGallimimusIndominus rexMosasaurusPachycephalosaurusParasaurolophusPteranodonStegosaurusTriceratopsTyrannosaurus rexVelociraptor
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Dinosaurs
AllosaurusAnkylosaurusApatosaurusBaryonyxBrachiosaurusCarnotaurusCompsognathusGallimimusIndoraptorMosasaurusParasaurolophusPteranodonSinoceratopsStegosaurusStygimolochTriceratopsTyrannosaurus rexVelociraptor
Playable Warpath Dinosaurs
AcrocanthosaurusAlbertosaurusAnkylosaurusCarcharodontosaurusCryolophosaurusGiganotosaurusMegaraptorPachycephalosaurusSpinosaurusStygimolochStyracosaurusSuchomimusTriceratopsTyrannosaurus rex