Posted: Sep 04, 2013 3:37 pm
So it turns out that the Triceratops we all know and love wasn't a separate species of dinosaur species at all, but just juvenile members of the Torosaurus.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/08/03 ... tists-say/
This has very special impact for my family. Since before I was born, my folks had two small triceratops plaster heads - about 20cm long or so - which hung above a couple doorways in our houses. When I was being weaned off of my pacifier, they put one in the "baby triceratops" mouth to give me a sense of purpose in quitting. The same technique was used with my kid sister ten years later.
How wonderful it is for us to know that calling these plaster models "baby" was actually dead-on accurate. Just wish my father, who thought it up originally, was around to hear of it - he'd have laughed for weeks.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/08/03 ... tists-say/
Known for its three horns and the bony, frilled ridge around its head, the triceratops was most likely just a younger version of the rarer torosaurus, say researchers John Scannella and Jack Horner at the Museum of the Rockies in Montana.
The species were very similar. Both had three horns and each had the distinctive head frill that makes the triceratops famous. But in the torosaurus the horns and ridge were shaped differently, with the ridge appearing smoother and thinner. It also had two holes.
After studying 29 triceratops skulls, the scientists discovered the bone was thinning in the same area where the torosaurus’s holes were. Evidence began mounting as they counted the growth rings in the bones and discovered all the triceratops skulls were from young dinosaurs. What’s more, juvenile specimens of the torosaurus have never been found. They concluded the dinosaurs were actually the same, with the horns and ridge changing shape as the lizard matured.
This has very special impact for my family. Since before I was born, my folks had two small triceratops plaster heads - about 20cm long or so - which hung above a couple doorways in our houses. When I was being weaned off of my pacifier, they put one in the "baby triceratops" mouth to give me a sense of purpose in quitting. The same technique was used with my kid sister ten years later.
How wonderful it is for us to know that calling these plaster models "baby" was actually dead-on accurate. Just wish my father, who thought it up originally, was around to hear of it - he'd have laughed for weeks.