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State Symbols
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Official state symbols represent the cultural heritage
and natural treasures of each state or the entire United States |
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Wyoming Symbols
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Wyoming State Dinosaur
Horned Dinosaur
(Triceratops)
Adopted on March 18, 1994.
The Triceratops was named the state's official dinosaur on March 18, 1994 following legislation providing for a contest and election by Wyoming elementary school children. It was chosen over three other candidates.
One of the most common dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period, the Triceratops is known for the three prominent horns on its head.
Roamed throughout Wyoming and North America about 75 million years ago. Named for its three large facial horns (Triceratops means literally "three-horned face"), Triceratops was a plant-eating dinosaur that may have traveled in herds, feeding on the lush vegetation that existed at the time. The animal may have attained a weight of 6 tons and a length of about 30 feet.
"Fossil evidence supports the idea that this head armor was used in display and ritualized combat within its own species," says Brent Breithaupt, UW Geological Museum director. "It may also have served to deter predators."
One of the predators a Triceratops defended itself against was the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex.
O. C. March discovered the triceratops in 1887 in Wyoming. Marsh originally found a triceratops horn, which he thought was a bison horn. In 1888, Marsh found the complete skull of the triceratops and realized that it was definitely not a giant bison! Marsh named the triceratops in 1889.
LIVED: 67-65 mya during the Cretaceous period in North America
SIZE: Length 30 ft
WEIGHT: 5 1/2 tons - heavy as an elephant
DIET: Fibrous plants
DEFENSE: Triceratops would charge at predators, like a modern day Rhinoceros. The three horns on its head would easily pierce a predator's hide, and the predator would find it isn't worth it.
AMAZING: Triceratops' frill probably served as a heat exchange, shedding extra heat when it was in the shade, and warming up in the sun. When a pair of Triceratopsians fought, they would lock horns, and twist until the stronger one would push the other to the ground.
Horned Dinosaur Taxonomic Hierarchy
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| Kingdom |
Animalia -- animals |
| Phylum |
Chordata -- chordates |
| Subphylum |
Vertebrata -- vertebrates |
| Class |
Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.) |
| Order |
Ornithischia - bird-hipped dinosaurs (plant-eaters) |
| Infraorder |
Ceratopsia (also called Ceratopia) |
| Family |
Ceratopsidae |
| Genus |
Triceratops |
| Species |
T. horridus (type species: Marsh, 1889) |
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State Symbols
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State symbols represent things that are special to a
particular state.
symbol \ˈsim-bəl\
noun
Etymology:
in sense 1, from Late Latin symbolum, from Late Greek symbolon, from Greek, token, sign; in
other senses from Latin symbolum token, sign, symbol, from Greek symbolon, literally, token
of identity verified by comparing its other half, from symballein to throw together,
compare, from syn- + ballein to throw — more at devil
Date: 15th century
1: Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or
convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
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