16.2" Triceratops Dorsal Vertebrae On Stand - North Dakota

This is an impressive, 16.2" tall dorsal vertebrae of a Triceratops horridus. It was collected from our partners lease in the Hell Creek Formation near Bowman, North Dakota this past year. There is some geological compression, but otherwise the preservation is very nice with the processes mostly complete. It comes with a custom metal display stand, pictured.

There are three areas of restoration, a patch on the edge of one side of the centrum where there was some erosion, a gap fill on the top process where it had been broken, and to the lower edge of the right process where there was some erosion. This is pretty minimal for most dinosaur material on the market.

About Triceratops

Triceratops is one of the most recognized and intriguing of the North American ceratopsid dinosaurs. They stomped around the Late Cretaceous (around 68-66 mya), brandishing their three-pronged and bony frilled skulls, chewing on fibrous plants. They struggled against large predators, stood their ground, and tried not to be devoured by the ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex.

An artist's rendering of Triceratops.
An artist's rendering of Triceratops.


The head on a Triceratops may have been an intimidating show rather than a stabbing, defensive trident and imposing shield for inter-species jousting. Researchers have given close scrutiny to the holes, or fenestrae, of other ceratopsid crests. In the past, the holes within the shield were used to confirm separate species.

Individual Triceratops are estimated to have reached up to 9 meters (29.5 feet) in length, 3 meters (9.8 feet) in height, and weighed up to 26,000 pounds. The largest known skull is estimated to have been 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long and would have extended almost a third of the length of the mature individual. The pointed horns were approximately 1 meter (3 feet) long. With its sturdy build and powerful legs, Triceratops could have ripped open the predator that wanted this herbivore for dinner.

One of the most abundant of the large Cretaceous fauna, Triceratops plucked low growth with its beak-tipped jaws. Triceratops teeth were arranged in groups, called batteries, of 36 to 40 tooth columns, in each side of each jaw. Each column contained about 3 to 5 stacked teeth, depending on the individual’s size. This produced a range of 432 to 800 teeth, of which only a fraction were in use at any given time (due to tooth replacement). The great size and quantity of teeth suggests that they ate large volumes of fibrous plants. These were possibly palms, cycads, and ferns.

Closeup of the jaws and teeth of Triceratops.
Closeup of the jaws and teeth of Triceratops.


Triceratops was designated as the state fossil of South Dakota in 1988.

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DETAILS
SPECIES
Triceratops horridus
LOCATION
Bowman, North Dakota
FORMATION
Hell Creek Formation
SIZE
16.2" tall, 20" tall on stand, 12.7" wide
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#50790
GUARANTEE
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.