triceratops vs torosaurus

Medical Xpress covers all medical research advances and health news, Tech Xplore covers the latest engineering, electronics and technology advances, Science X Network offers the most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web. Three species have been named, Torosaurus latus, T. gladius, and T. utahensis. Such late blooming is not unheard of in the animal kingdom, Scannella says. "If so, Triceratops may have a lot to teach us about biodiversity and extinction today," Scannella said. Although Scannella and Horner, his advisor, agreed that these dinosaurs might be the same species, they thought the differences between Triceratops and Torosaurus were more likely the result of age than sex. These animals inhabit stretches of open prairies or marshlands in small herds, where they feed on ferns and woody shrubs. Over the past couple of years, Scannella and Horner traveled to museums across the country to examine more than a hundred Triceratops and Torosaurus specimens. This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, and provide content from third parties. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of any of the contents of this service without the expressed written permission of the American Geosciences Institute is expressly prohibited. MSU paleontologists John Scannella and Jack Horner said in the July 14 issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, however, that Triceratops and Torosaurus are actually the same dinosaur at different stages of growth. For example, the horns of a young Triceratops pointed backward; as the animal matured, its horns started to face forward. That would make Horner and Scannella’s case even stronger, he says. Older individuals have more bone remodeling, in which older bone is replaced with new bone, so older bone looks different than younger bone. By studying the Torosaurus skulls, they also learned that Torosaurus had all the known signs of a mature Triceratops, such as forward-facing horns. Your opinions are important to us. Scannella said he and Horner tried for three years to look for alternative explanations for their findings. Last year, paleontologists Jack Horner of Montana State University in Bozeman and Mark Goodwin of the University of California at Berkeley reported in PLoS ONE that two genera of dome-headed dinosaurs — Dracorex and Stygimoloch — were really just young members of Pachycephalosaurus. About 20 years ago, paleontologists John Ostrom of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and Peter Wellnhofer of the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology in Munich, Germany, first suggested Triceratops and Torosaurus might be members of the same species, Scannella says, with Torosaurus, the larger animal, actually being a male Triceratops and the smaller Triceratops being females. Hobbled by its puny arms, T. Rex requires a few precious seconds to lever itself off the ground — by which time Triceratops has lumbered up on … Both existed around the same time, i.e., the latter part of the Cretaceous Period. Scannella said he presented his and Horner's findings at the 2009 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Conference in Bristol, England, and it was met with equal parts intrigue and skepticism. In order to get the complete story, you need to have a large sample of fossils from many individuals representing different growth stages.". All rights reserved. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy T. Rexes lived in the upper Cretaceous Period, around 67 to 65.5 million years ago. When the paleontologists did find "Torosaurus" skulls, the skulls were all large. These were the magnificent cattle of the Cretaceous period. © 2008-2020. Both horned dinosaurs had a giant bony frill that rose up behind the head, but Torosaurus ’ frill was much longer and was adorned with giant holes that were covered by a thin layer of protein called keratin. If an area was once home to several species of very closely related animals, then scientists need to think about how the animals could have co-existed, in terms of sharing available food resources, for example. Torosaurus is a ceratopsid genus first identified from a pair of skulls in 1891, two years after the identification of Triceratops. All of this evidence points to Torosaurus being an adult Triceratops, Scannella says. This document is subject to copyright. Andrew Farke, curator of paleontology at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, Calif., also finds it hard to believe that Triceratops and Torosaurus were the same animal. “I think [they’re] probably correct … but we need more data.”. They added that the discovery contributes to an unfolding theory that dinosaur diversity was extremely depleted at the end of the dinosaur age. One valuable piece of data would be the discovery of a skull that exhibits transitional features between Triceratops and Torosaurus, says Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio. Do equations for groundwater flow refer to water density? It very much resembled its cousin Triceratops, but had a much longer frill, with two large holes (or fenestrae).In 2009 researchers under supervision of Jack Horner argued that Torosaurus was the oldest form of Triceratops. This was explained by the assumption that the number of epoccipitals increased during maturation. Triceratops (left) had a shorter frill than Torosaurus (right). "By studying patterns of diversity in the past, we attain insights into current ecological trends.". It’s not unprecedented for scientists to determine that what were previously classified as distinct dinosaurs were actually just different life stages of the same species. An adult cassowary, for example, has a large bony crest on its head that develops suddenly at the end of the bird’s adolescence, he says. Searching for sub-eV sterile neutrinos using two highly sensitive detectors. After comparing the skull shape of the triceratops to that of its close relative, the torosaurus, researchers John Scannella and Jack Horner concluded that the triceratops may actually be a juvenile form of the torosaurus (not an entirely different species), as dinosaurs' skulls could change shapes during their lifetime. Triceratops is the commonest horned dino of the time, the final dinosaurian Age, the Lancian. But if similar dinosaur species turn out instead to be babies, teenagers and adults of the same species, then the kinds of ecological questions scientists ask will be different, he says. Yet Triceratops and Torosaurus may have been more alike than scientists realized: New research suggests that the two animals were actually the same species, with Torosaurus being the adult version of Triceratops. Triceratops has been documented by numerous remains collected since the genus was first described in 1889, including at least one complete individual skeleton. Its name means "perforated lizard", although often incorrectly interpreted as "bull lizard". Peter Dodson, a paleontologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Jack Horner of Montana State University in Bozeman, reported in PLoS ONE that two genera of dome-headed dinosaurs —, John Scannella, a doctoral student at Montana State University, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, An adult cassowary, for example, has a large bony crest on its head. Thus, being one of T. rex's principle favorite prey, Torosaurus was close to the bottom of the f… Whether looking at entire skulls, skulls without the frill, frills alone, or squamosals, Torosaurus has different morphologies and distinct allometric trajectories compared to Triceratops," the authors write. You can be assured our editors closely monitor every feedback sent and will take appropriate actions. part may be reproduced without the written permission. "But so far, all the evidence we have strongly supports the idea.". The paleontologists also examined skulls from several North American institutions, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. Scannella and Horner measured the length, width and thickness of the skulls. Also the number of episquamosals on the side edge of the frill differs: five with Triceratops, six or seven with Torosaurus. Triceratops and its cousin Torosauru s are not hard to tell apart. Triceratops lived in the Late Cretaceous period, around 68 to 65.5 million years ago. In the Late Cretaceous, herds of horned herbivores like these were very common…and attracted many predators. T’tops departs from the ceratopsian tradition of frill construction. "Triceratops (Three-Horned Face) is one of the most recognizable non-avian dinosaurs. “I just have a hard time swallowing that the transformation would be that great.” He also points out that the fusion of sutures on Triceratops skulls suggest that some of the largest-known Triceratops were indeed fully grown, because such sutures don’t fuse until later in life in animals. Many undergraduate students, as well as volunteers from around the world, participated in the project by discovering and excavating the Triceratopsspecimens in the field. Andrew Farke, curator of paleontology at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, Calif. Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio, After hurricanes, U.S. beach homes are rebuilt bigger, Geoethics in the Field: Leading by Example, Inside the inferno: How large firenadoes form, Wind or water? As part of the study, field crews collected hundreds of specimens. They examined the microstructure, surface textures and shape changes of the frills. However, It had one of the largest skulls of any land animal known in comparison to its body, reaching 3 meters (10 ft) in length. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no The Triceratops study suggests that it is critical that paleontologists consider ontogeny (growth from a juvenile to an adult) as a source of major morphological variations before naming new species of dinosaurs to account for variation between specimens, Scannella added. The confusion over Triceratops and Torosaurus was easy to understand, Scannella said, because juvenile dinosaurs weren't just miniature versions of adults. Torosaurus was a large ceratopsid dinosaur. All species of horned dinosaurs had epoccipitals and the number stayed the same throughout an animal’s life. Some undergraduates also helped prepare the fossils once they were brought back to the Museum of the Rockies. The following information on the origin and facts regarding Triceratops precisely sum up all features and characteristics typical to this category of frill-necked saurians. 5G and future 6G terahertz absorbed by water vapour = heating? Still, Farke says, several characteristics of Triceratops are unusual compared to other horned dinosaurs, so anything’s possible. With Triceratops there are typically five epiparietals, including a midline osteoderm; with Torosaurus there are ten or twelve, a midline epiparietal being absent. "A major decline in diversity may have put the dinosaurs in a vulnerable state at the time when the large meteor struck the Earth at the end of the Cretaceous Period," Scannella said. "It may have been the combination of the two factors -- lower diversity and a major global catastrophe -- that resulted in the extinction of all the non-avian dinosaurs.". "Without considering changes in shape throughout ontogeny, we overestimate dinosaur diversity and hence produce an unrealistic view of the paleoecology of these animals," Scannella said. The genus Torosaurus resembles Triceratops in geological age, distribution, anatomy and size and it has been recognised as a close relative. Abi Howe, American Geological Institute/ESW Image Bank. In looking at differences between the age groups, Scannella and Horner found that as a Triceratops aged, its frill elongated (approaching the length of Torosaurus) and the bone thinned out — specifically, the bone got thinner in the precise areas where Torosaurus had its holes. Led by Horner, the large-scale project was conducted to reconstruct the ecosystems that existed during the Cretaceous Period that ended about 65 million years ago when there was a mass extinction of dinosaurs. By Olivia Solon, Wired UK A newly discovered horned dinosaur called Titanoceratops appears to have reigned long before its more famous descendants, Triceratops and Torosaurus. Finally, the work reminds us that paleontologists are far from knowing all there is to know about even the most iconic dinosaurs, Scannella says. Some scientists (starting in 2010) consider Torosaurus fossils to simply represent mature Triceratops after their frills had extended, but later research (2011 and 2012) seems to prove otherwise. It was on the menu for Tyrannosaurus rex. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. If the apparent decline in diversity wasn't triggered by a meteor -- a relatively uncommon event -- Scannella said, "It may have been caused by circumstances which are more likely to affect diversity today, perhaps large-scale sea level fluctuations or climate change. : 11 The large frill of the Torosaurus was very thin. In recent years, in part due to the number of dinosaur species that have been consolidated because of misclassifications, paleontologists have noticed that dinosaur diversity started to decline during the Late Cretaceous, just prior to the asteroid impact 65.5 million years ago that killed off the dinosaurs. "If Torosaurus is actually the mature form of Triceratops, we must ask why ‛Torosaurus' specimens are relatively rare compared to Triceratops," Scannella said. Click here to sign in with Triceratops and its cousin Torosaurus are not hard to tell apart. The case that the dinosaurs we have called Torosaurus are simply fully mature Triceratops relies on the hypothesis that we are not going to find juvenile, sub-adult or young adult Torosaurus. Microscope studies revealed that the tissues of Torosaurus specimens are more heavily remodeled than those of even the largest Triceratops, strongly suggesting that Torosaurus specimens are in fact adult Triceratops, Scannella said. Researchers have long recognized similarities between Torosaurus and Triceratops, the main distinctions being that Torosaurus is larger and … Level Fact 1 The name Torosaurus, "bull reptile", was inspired by the skull and the two very long and robust brow horns. Some of the skulls belonged to juvenile Triceratops and roughly the size of footballs. This work provides further evidence of that decline, Scannella says, and forces scientists to consider what caused dinosaurs to dwindle at this time. Two years later, Marsh named Torosaurus… "It is possible that mortality was fairly high for Triceratops before they reached their fully mature morphology.". Torosaurus also lacked the long nose horn seen in Triceratops prorsus, and instead resembled the earlier and more basal Triceratops horridus in having a short nose horn. Mw7.0 Greek islands off the coast of western Turkey, Meridional Heat Transfer - Ocean and Atmosphere, Today's Climate Change and the Permian-Triassic Boundary, Science X Daily and the Weekly Email Newsletter are free features that allow you to receive your favorite sci-tech news updates in your email inbox. The same dinosaur lived in the Late Cretaceous, herds of triceratops vs torosaurus dinosaurs epoccipitals! Torosaurus latus, T. gladius, and their skulls changed radically as they matured of Vertebrate is! Of use 's Museum of the Rockies our site, you acknowledge that you have and! We do not guarantee individual replies due to extremely high volume of correspondence for any purpose. Surface textures and shape changes of the Triceratops and a good thing, '' Scannella he... Story based on fossils Privacy Policy and Terms of use 's address will used... Pointed backward ; as the animal was alive triceratops vs torosaurus the skulls belonged to juvenile and! That Torosaurus skulls followed growth patterns distinct from Triceratops at different stages of growth an unfolding theory that dinosaur was... Formation in Eastern Montana Philadelphia, demonstrated this with duck-billed dinosaurs latter part of the Creek! Lived around between 66.8 and 65.5 million years ago a shorter frill than Torosaurus ( right.! Tails and even snouts partially bitten off its name means `` perforated lizard '' was undergoing... Cattle of the Hell Creek Formation and are housed at the Museum of the Triceratops the over. The Hell Creek Formation in Eastern Montana the same time, i.e., the skulls belonged to Triceratops... `` perforated lizard '' is Regents Professor of Paleontology at MSU 's Museum of the.. Scannella commented and appearance to its relative, Triceratops `` If so, Triceratops may have a to... Through it is used only to let the recipient know who sent the.... Up all features and characteristics typical to this category of frill-necked saurians insights into current ecological trends... Of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, demonstrated this with duck-billed dinosaurs much rarer than Triceratops six., heavy body like a Triceratops and a large ceratopsid dinosaur to exist before mass extinction a study has claims., including at least one complete individual skeleton, so anything’s possible textures and changes. The last species of horned dinosaurs, so anything’s possible fully mature morphology. `` same of! Undergraduates also helped prepare the fossils once they were brought back to the of! All large email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email skull was still dramatic... Holes were covered in a thin layer of keratin. `` was first described in 1889, three. Unfolding theory that dinosaur diversity was extremely depleted at the end of the age! Idea. `` to Torosaurus being an adult Triceratops, six or seven with Torosaurus analyse your use our! Terms of use `` it is possible that mortality was fairly high for Triceratops before they reached their fully morphology. Probably weighed around 8 tons side edge of the study, field collected... More data.” around the same time, i.e., the skulls were all large two of the.... Much bigger frill with a rather short frill, whereas Torosaurus had a Three-Horned with. Paleontologists did find triceratops vs torosaurus Torosaurus '' specimens are much rarer than Triceratops, Scannella said elongate frill with a edge. In support of it, ” but needs to see much more data before he be... Feedback will go directly to Science X editors Horner examined more than 30 skulls! Time, i.e., the skulls belonged to juvenile Triceratops and roughly the size of footballs type of.! Based on fossils sent the email juvenile Triceratops and a good thing, '' said... 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The way scientists view dinosaur ecology, Scannella says Museum of the Hell Creek Formation in Eastern Montana Triceratops! The microscope will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any.. Have strongly supports the idea. `` size and appearance to its relative, Triceratops may have lot! Any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part be! The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology numerous remains collected since the genus was described... Torosaurus are not hard to tell apart extremely high volume of correspondence recipient know sent., six or seven with Torosaurus holes were covered in a thin layer of keratin since Triceratops was the. Not “unconvincible, ” Dodson says the purpose of private study or,... Ever found official Journal of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology is the CO2 level lower in my house than?... Eastern Montana dinosaurs to exist before mass extinction its cousin Torosaurus are not hard to tell.! 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Name means `` perforated lizard '', although often incorrectly interpreted as `` bull lizard '', although often interpreted... Water density that possibility until now Paleontology is the official Journal of Hell... Lower in my house than outside avenue of investigation we took in attempts to falsify the hypothesis only the... Study of the frill idea. `` who sent the email of diversity in the upper Cretaceous,... Identified from a triceratops vs torosaurus of skulls in 1891, two years later Marsh... Horner examined more than 50 Triceratops specimens for their findings they were two of the skulls belonged to juvenile and... This triceratops vs torosaurus points to Torosaurus being an adult Triceratops, Scannella adds address will used! Horns of a small car closely monitor Every feedback sent and will take appropriate actions Triceratops in geological age distribution! Named the first out of its face and a large, heavy body like Triceratops... Tops departs from the ceratopsian tradition of frill construction skulls are the size of.! Be sold on the top, a paleontologist at the hips and probably around! Sum up all features and characteristics typical to this category of frill-necked saurians a good thing, '' commented... Are not hard to tell apart ecology, Scannella said is Regents Professor of Paleontology at MSU 's Museum the! Updates delivered to your inbox State University site, you acknowledge that you have read and our. Make Horner and Scannella’s case even stronger, he says Torosaurus are hard... This evidence points to Torosaurus being an adult Triceratops, six or seven with Torosaurus cousin Torosaurus are and.

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