Triceratops prorsus (ceratopsian dinosaur) (Hell Creek Formation, Upper Cretaceous; Hell Creek, Montana, USA) 5

Triceratops prorsus Marsh, 1890 - ceratopsian dinosaur skeleton from the Cretaceous of Montana, USA. (CM 1219, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)

Ceratopsians are the "horned dinosaurs". They were large, quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs having a beaked skull and a frill - an extension of bone behind the skull that partially covered the neck. Ceratopsian dinosaurs are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. The last members of the group died out at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, 65 million years ago.
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Exhibit signage:

Triceratops prorsus
"Straight-on three-horned face"

Triceratops lived late in the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era, about 68-66 million years ago.

Species Statistics

Classification: Dinosauria: Ornithischia: Marginocephalia: Ceratopsia: Ceratopsidae

Diet: Herbivorous

Distribution: North America: western U.S.A., southwestern Canada

Approximate Size

Height: up to 10 feet at the hips (3 meters)
Length: up to 28 feet (8.5 meters)
Weight: up to 7 tons (6,400 kilograms)

The well-known Triceratops was among the largest and last of the ceratopsians, or horned dinosaurs.

Ceratopsians thrived and diversified in North America for tens of millions of years after arriving from Asia during the Cretaceous. Near the end of this period, however, only a few species remained. By far, the most abundant of these was Triceratops. Fossils of this elephan-sized, three-horned herbivore are common in many areas of the western United States and Canada.

Triceratops shared its world with - and was often preyed upon by - the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex.

Characteristics

Long horns over eyes, short horn over nose - for display and defense.

Large, solid bony frill, probably for display and defense.

Powerful jaws and teeth to slice tough vegetation.

Parrot-like, toothless beak for cropping plants.

Skin covered in coarse scales and large bumps (tubercles).

Stout legs.

Toes end in hoof-like claws.

About This Specimen

Specimen Number: CM 1219
Found: Hell Creek, Montana (Hell Creek Formation)
Discovered by: William H. Utterback, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 1904

The Name Game

By 1949, scientists had named 16 different species of Triceratops - but today's paleontologists think there are only two.

In 1996, horned dinosaur expert Catherine Forster used modern techniques to overhaul the classification of Triceratops. She concluded that only two of the 16 named species of this huge ceratopsian were legitimate - Triceratops horridus and the much rarer Triceratops prorsus. Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Triceratops is one of the best known specimens of T. prorsus. It has a relatively larger nose horn and shorter brow horns than skulls of T. horridus.
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Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Reptilia, Archosauria, Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Marginocephalia, Ceratopsia, Ceratopsidae

Stratigraphy: Hell Creek Formation, Maastrichtian Stage, upper Upper Cretaceous

Locality: undisclosed site at or near Hell Creek, eastern Montana, USA
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Info. at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triceratops

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Taken on: July 25, 2010

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Sets appears in: • Montana Rocks, Minerals, Fossils • Cretaceous Rocks, Minerals, Fossils more » • Dinosaurs (Ceratopsians) « less

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