Wyoming Triceratops (state dinosaur)
Wyoming Triceratops (state dinosaur)
Wyoming is one of only two states to recognize both a state fossil and a state dinosaur. The state fossil is a small fish, but the state dinosaur, Triceratops, is hardly so obscure. The "three-horned face" for which this dinosaur is named has made it popular with dinosaur lovers of all ages. Triceratops roamed the land that is now Wyoming near the end of the Cretaceous Period, some 68 - 65 million years ago, as the Western Interior Seaway that divided the continent was retreating to the south.
Triceratops was a member of the ceratopsian lineage of dinosaurs, which is characterized by a large frill at the back of the skull and a varying number of facial horns. Many different ceratopsians have been described, but of these, Triceratops is the best known and most familiar. It was a large, quadrupedal herbivore that fed on tough, low growing vegetation. Although a complete skeleton has never been found, many good skulls have been, and enough other bones of Triceratops are known for scientists to deduce that it was about 25 feet long and weighed around 5 tons. The horns may have been used to ward off predators, or for sexual display, like the antlers of deer.
The first Triceratops specimen was discovered in Wyoming in 1887. It was originally thought to be an extinct type of bison, and only later recognized as a dinosaur. Since that time, many other Triceratops fossils have been uncovered, primarily in the Hell Creek Formation in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, eastern Wyoming, and Montana.
Triceratops was named the Wyoming state dinosaur in 1994, when legislation provided for a contest and election by elementary school children, who chose it over three other candidates.
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