Triceratops reigns alone again
Fossil comparison upholds dinosaur as separate type
By Devin Powell
Triceratops may no longer have an identity crisis. As paleontologists lock horns on whether these dinosaurs were just baby versions of the larger Torosaurus, the latest clues suggest the two were indeed separate kinds of dinosaurs.
A new study reveals immature and adult examples of both Triceratops and Torosaurus. “I don’t see any clear fossil evidence that one dinosaur turned into the other,” says Nicholas Longrich. He and fellow Yale paleontologist Daniel Field make their case online February 29 in PLoS ONE.
Comparisons between the dinos, which both lived about 65 million years ago in western North America, start with their skulls. Like many horned dinosaurs, Torosaurus sported a sizable frill of bone perforated with two big holes. Triceratops, in comparison, wore an unusually short and solid crown.