Triceratops Sleeping

Triceratops Sleeping

This is a drawing of a Triceratops adult sleeping with her calf.  The calf has a frill that arches over the neck to protect it from small predators.  The adult has a more forward facing frill that could act somewhat as a shield in a defensive fight against a T. rex.  The adult Triceratops has forward curving horns as well.  These differences in adult and juvinile Triceratops was recently pointed out by Dr. John Horner.  The Pterosaur is a Pteranodon.  All these animals are from the Late Cretaceous Period of North America.

The foliage is indicative of the time period as well.  There WERE flowering plants.  New discoveries put flowering plants way back to possibly even BEFORE the dinosaur era.  That explains the bushes with flowers.  There were some broadleaf trees such as ginkgo.  There were cycad trees that look quite a lot like palm trees, but if you look closely you will see pine cones in them.  Cycads are actually conifers.  They are related to pines, firs, and spruce trees.  You may also notice ferns.  Ferns have been around for hundreds of million years.  They are non-flowering plants.   But they are not conifers. They don't make seeds, they reproduce with spores off of the bottom of their leaves.

Artists don't usually draw dinosaurs sleeping. . . but certainly dinos HAD so sleep.  So I drew a pair sleeping.  Since Ceratopsians most certainly lived in herds, the rest of the herd would be nearby. 

Printable version of this drawing is found by hitting the top buttons:  "All Printables" and "Paleontology".  However, remember that newer drawings are at the bottom of the All Printables list and at the bottom of the Mesozoic Era list in the Paleontology section.