Triceratops is famous for sporting three formidable horns on its face: two long ones above its eyes and a short one on its nose. It used these for fending off predators and attracting mates. But did you know that besides Triceratops, many other dinosaurs had horns? In fact, more horned dinosaurs have been found in North America over the past 20 years than any other kind of dinosaur. Let’s look at the most intriguing.

Centrosaurus

Centrosaurus had a similar look to triceratops, with three horns on its face and a frill protecting its neck. However, this dinosaur lived a few million years before triceratops came along, and its largest horn was at the end of its nose, with two shorter ones over its eyes. It lived in what is now Canada’s Alberta province.

Kosmoceratops

With a name meaning ‘ornate horned face’ in Greek, Kosmoceratops took horns to the next level. This dinosaur lived around 10 million years before Triceratops and had a grand total of 15 horns and spikes on its head, including above its eyes, on its nose, and protruding from its cheeks.

Styracosaurus

Living in modern-day Canada around 76 million years ago, Styracosaurus was a plant eater with a striking collection of spikes around its neck and a long horn on its nose. It’s thought to have lived in herds and measured up to 5.5 metres long.

Aquilops

If you went walking with dinosaurs live in the mid-Cretaceous period, you might have come across Aquilops. Unlike Triceratops, this animal was the size of a cat and only had small horns. It’s thought to be the earliest horned dinosaur living in North America, pre-dating Triceratops by some 50 million years.

Pachyrhinosaurus

Pachyrhinosaurus, like Triceratops, boasted an impressive frill, but it didn’t have nose and brow horns. This dinosaur - whose name means ‘thick-nosed lizard’ - instead had two ornamental horns on either side of its frill, most likely to attract mates.

Protoceratops

Discovered in Mongolia, this dinosaur was a small and primitive version of the large horned dinosaurs that came along later in the Cretaceous period. It reached around 1.8 metres long and had a bony neck frill but no horns on its face. Instead, it had a horn covered beak that it used to defend itself and crop the plants that made up its diet.

Coahuilaceratops

The first horned dinosaur to be discovered in Mexico, Coahuilaceratops (kho-WHEE-lah-sera-tops) boasted the largest horns of any known dinosaur species. Roughly the same size as a rhino, its brow horns reached 1.5 metres in length.

Pentaceratops

If you know that Triceratops means ‘three-horned face’ you’d be forgiven for assuming Pentaceratops means ‘five-horned face’. In fact, this dinosaur had just three genuine horns; the other two were simply outgrown cheekbones. What set Pentaceratops apart was its enormous head, which spanned three metres from the top of its frill to the tip of its nose.

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