Triceratops and Other Horned Plant-Eaters

by Virginia Schomp

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• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761410244
• ISBN13: 9780761410249
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.5" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 8 to 10 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 5

Customer Reviews

A solid introduction to the oddest looking dinosaurs

This is the fourth volume of books on the suborders of dinosaurs and I had one big question as I read "Triceratops and Other Horned Plant Eaters." Where does the Stegosaurus fit into the dinosaur family tree? They are not horned plant eaters but they were not an armored plant eater either, and they are not going to fit into any of the other books in the series. However, by paying attention to the lessons that Virginia Schomp imparts in these books I learned that the Stegosaurus is not a Marginocephalian, a shelf-headed plant-eater like the Triceratops, but a Thyreophoran, a four-legged palnt-eating dinosaur with bony plates and armor. That certainly defines the Stegosaurs, but they belong to their own infraorder, which is different from both the Ankylosaurs and the Scelidosaurs. Now, keep in mind that I never took biology in high school so my ability to not only toss around these scientific terms but actually understand what they mean, is a testament to the scientific perspective that Schomp brings to these volumes. There are almost a dozen different types of horned plant-eaters illustrated in the volume as well as a great photograph of a Triceratops skeleton. For each Leptoceratops, Chasmaosaurus, and their kin, Schomp tells us when and where they lived (mostly North America in the late Cretaceous Period), and some interesting tidbits that help you tell one from another. The result is a solid introduction into one of the most fascinating types of dinosaurs.The Triceratops and their kin were one of the oddest looking dinosaurs and also one of the very last, which allows Schomp to talk about the end of the age of Dinosaurs. Young readers will also learn about how these animals lived in herds and protected their young. Other titles in the Prehistorical World series look at "Ankylosaurus and Other Armored Plant-Eaters," "Apatosaurus and Other Giant Long-Necked Plant-Eaters," "Tyrannosaurus and Other Giant Meat-Eaters," and "Velociraptor and Other Small, Speedy Meat-Eaters." Note: the illustration picked for the cover of this volume was not the best possible choice; I mean, a Triceratops with a tree across its eyes? The Pentaceratops on page 19 would have been my choice, but I suppose if it says "Triceratops" in the titler then there has to be a Triceratops on the cover.