When it comes to dinosaurs, people naturally wonder how strong these creatures were. While countless comparisons have been made to the T. Rex‘s inimitable strength, you’re curious about a different dino, the Triceratops. How strong were they?
Triceratops are considered quite strong, as they weighed several tons, had powerful horns, a beak-like appendage, and a bulky yet durable frame. Remember that the Triceratops was herbivorous and would have only used their size and horns in self-defense.
Listen To This Article By Adventure Dinosaurs
In today’s article, we’ll fully explore the Triceratops’ strength, including comparisons against dinosaurs and modern-day creatures alike. Make sure you keep reading, as there’s lots of great information coming up ahead!
How Strong Is a Triceratops? How to Define “Strong”
What is it exactly that makes an animal strong?
Well, it’s not size alone, as insects and small creatures can be surprisingly strong.
Weight does play a factor in strength, as does how much a creature has the ability to push or pull something.
Keeping all that in mind, let’s talk further about how strong a Triceratops is.
The Triceratops was a sizable creature, measuring between 26 and 30 inches long. It also weighed a lot, anywhere from 5.5 to 9.9 short tons.
This seems like a good moment to explain what a short ton is. A short ton is the equivalent of 2,000 pounds.
A quick word about Dinosaur Books – I’ve researched information to write this article from many sources such as multiple internet sites and magazines. However, some of the best reference knowledge is from books. If you are interested in checking out the best dinosaur books for adults on Amazon, you can find them by clicking here: Best Dinosaur Books for Adults
Thus, a 5.5-short-ton Triceratops would weigh more than 10,000 pounds, while a 9.9-short-ton Triceratops would clock in at nearly 20,000 pounds.
Is that a lot of weight? Yes, absolutely, but whether it was more weight than other dinosaurs is something you’ll have to keep reading to the next section to find out.
The Triceratops also had a large skull, even larger than its body size would suggest. The dino’s head alone might have been 8.2 feet long!
The frilled head of the Triceratops wasn’t for self-defense but possibly for courting other dinosaurs.
The frills might have also been used for temperature regulation but wouldn’t have really been a self-defense mechanism.
The Triceratops also had three horns, including two long horns at the top of its skull and a third horn lower on the face.
Interestingly, these horns too might have been used for courtship!
How Would a Triceratops Protect Itself
Despite that the Triceratops was an herbivorous creature that thus didn’t hunt other dinosaurs, that didn’t mean that other dinosaurs didn’t hunt it. To protect itself, those horns absolutely came in handy.
Don’t forget that the Triceratops had a beak-like mouth comprised of a rostral bone. However, the Triceratops wasn’t a bird, so it had teeth as well, at least 36 teeth but possibly up to 40.
The teeth were stacked and pushed close together to make what is known as a dental battery.
The stout and sturdy body of the Triceratops gave it durability, especially concerning its large head.
As for how much a Triceratops could push or pull, that’s something that we can’t say with certainty. Considering just how much this dinosaur weighed, we think that almost any obstacle at the time wouldn’t have posed a huge challenge for the Triceratops.
It certainly would have been able to move smaller dinosaurs and creatures than itself, and it might have been able to shove out of the way other dinos that were about the same size.
Navigating fallen tree trunks wouldn’t have posed a problem, but we can’t imagine that the Triceratops would have been able to smash boulders. With those horns though, it’s hard to say definitively.
A quick word about dinosaur gifts- if you are looking for the perfect dinosaur gift to give your loved one and want some extra ideas, then check out my favorite dinosaur toy gifts on Amazon by clicking here: Best dinosaur gifts
Who Would Win: An Elephant or Triceratops?
While it’s fun to look at the strength of a Triceratops on its lonesome, comparing the dinosaur’s strength to other powerful creatures would be even more fun.
Without further ado then, let’s do exactly that!
Elephant vs. Triceratops
First, we’ve got elephants.
The elephant is not a relative of the Triceratops, although we couldn’t blame you for thinking so!
After all, an elephant has dual facial horns, as the Triceratops does.
Elephants are some of the most massive animals on planet earth today. Different species clock in at various weights, with the Asian elephant weighing about 8,200 pounds on average and the African bush elephant up to 13,000 pounds.
Some elephant species would indeed outweigh the Triceratops, but not necessarily all.
As for the size of an average elephant, if talking about African elephants, their standard size is 8.2 to 13 feet long. They’re not quite as lengthy as the Triceratops but are heavy enough that that wouldn’t matter.
We can quantify the strength of an elephant a lot better than we can the Triceratops.
According to animal resource Wild Explained, using just its trunk, an elephant can carry 700 pounds. The animal can also transport up to 2,000 pounds on its back.
We think the elephant could emerge victorious in a hypothetical battle of elephant vs. Triceratops.
Rhino vs. Triceratops
Those who read this blog will also recall that while the rhinoceros and Triceratops might have facial horns roughly the same positioning, these two creatures are also unrelated.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth pitting them together in a hypothetical battle.
Rhinos are smaller creatures akin to the Triceratops. Their average height is 5.2 feet while their length is between 11 and 13 feet. They are smaller than Triceratopses.
A rhino also doesn’t weigh as much as a Triceratops. The average rhino weighs 1,720 to 3,080 pounds.
You’ll recall that a Triceratops weighs 10,000 to 20,000 pounds, so it could easily bully around a rhino at that size.
Even African rhinos only clock in at 7,920 pounds, so they’re underweight compared to Triceratopses as well.
Wildlife Boss notes that rhinos could charge with more than 8,300 pounds of force, so they do have that going for them.
A quick word about Dinosaur Learning Toys: people of all ages love to learn about dinosaurs and if you or your kids want to learn about dinosaurs, here are the best dinosaur learning toys on Amazon – Take a look! Best Dinosaur Learning Toys
T-Rex vs. Triceratops
In 1901, the artist Charles R. Knight painted a T. Rex squaring off against a Triceratops.
The dinosaurs were not known to be enemies of one another, but isn’t it cool to imagine which dino would come out victorious? So let’s do that now.
The T. Rex would have stood 12 feet tall and measured 40 inches long. It would have outsized the Triceratops, although not by a significant margin.
More so, T. Rexes are heavy creatures, weighing between 11,000 and 15,000 pounds. That’s about as much as a Triceratops weighed.
The T. Rex had several advantages that a Triceratops did not.
For one, the T. Rex was carnivorous rather than herbivorous, so it would have had more of a killer instinct when approaching other dinosaurs than Triceratopses.
Second, the T. Rex had very ferocious, terrifying teeth. It had 60 teeth installed in its mouth, and each one measured about eight inches.
The teeth were serrated and sharp so they could pierce into the flesh of their prey and maintain grip.
A Triceratops would find that hard to beat.
Triceratops vs T-Rex: Speed and Movement
Triceratops Speed
The triceratops was faster than the T-Rex, with an ungainly gallop that helped it reach a top speed of 20mph. The T-Rex only reached 17mph using its bipedal stride. This makes the triceratops a better choice for outrunning predators or escaping danger.
T-Rex Speed
T-Rex was a bipedal dinosaur, meaning it walked on two legs. Its stride was long and powerful, and it could quickly cover a lot of ground. However, its top speed is thought to have been only about 25 miles per hour. In comparison, Triceratopses were quadrupeds, meaning they had four legs. They were slower than T-Rex, but their Gallop was considered ungainly. Nevertheless, they could still reach speeds of up to 15 miles per hour.
T-Rex Movement
The Tyrannosaurus Rex is considered the king of dinosaurs because of its massive size and ferocious appearance. But how does its movement compare to other dinosaurs?
The T-Rex was not the fastest dinosaur, but it could still chase down and catch its prey. This is because the T-Rex had powerful legs that allowed it to run at high speeds. The T-Rex also had a long tail that helped it balance while running.
The Triceratops was a much faster dinosaur than the T-Rex. This is because the Triceratops had longer legs, allowing it to run at high speeds. The Triceratops also had a shorter tail that helped it turn quickly while running.
Even though the Triceratops was faster than the T-Rex, the T-Rex could still catch its prey by using its powerful jaws to bite down on them.
Triceratops Movement
Triceratopses are faster than T-Rex. Triceratopses had an ungainly gallop, while T-Rex used a bipedal stride. The four-legged Triceratops would be faster than T-Rex. Not only that, but the momentum gained once running would give an advantage in speed.
Stegosaurus vs. Triceratops
Next, let’s look at the Stegosaurus, a four-legged creature with plates from its head to its tail that was for temperature regulation akin to how a Triceratops might have had temperature-regulating properties via its neck frill.
On average, the Stegosaurus was sized between 21 and 30 feet long, which is right in the same ballpark as the Triceratops size-wise.
However, the Stegosaurus cannot match up to the bulk of a Triceratops. The former dinosaur weighed anywhere from 2,000 to 6,800 pounds, so it was outweighed by the Triceratops by quite a large margin.
Both creatures were herbivores, so while they might have competed for a food source if they shared the same environment, they wouldn’t have attacked one another.
Still, the Triceratops would have won if it had ever come to that.
Which Is the Strongest Dinosaur?
All this talk about hypothetical dinosaur battles has you thinking about which dinosaur would have been the king of the jungle due to its strength alone.
It’s not the T. Rex, despite what you might think.
After all, larger creatures exist than the T. Rex, and there is indeed a correlation between size and strength.
The Argentinosaurus is a good candidate for the strongest dinosaur.
This creature measured 98 to 115 feet long and weighed anywhere from 66 to 83 short tons. It was also an herbivore, so it wouldn’t have tested its strength against other dinos unless in self-defense.
The Spinosaurus was also very large, measuring about 46 inches long and weighing up to 8.2 short tons. Unlike the Argentinosaurus, the Spinosaurus was indeed carnivorous and thus could have used its size and strength to push smaller dinos around!
One last word about dinosaur gifts. If you are looking for a really cool dinosaur remote control robot, then take a look at these best choices from Amazon – they are sure to give your child a fun experience! Electronic Dinosaur Toys
Conclusion
The Triceratops is regarded as a strong dinosaur for its size, but there are certainly stronger creatures out there. The T. Rex, for instance, would have been victorious against the Triceratops if they ever met in battle.
So too would today’s modern elephant easily be able to defeat a Triceratops in a test of strength.
The Triceratops likely is stronger than today’s rhinos as well as Stegosauruses!
