News:

12/18/2011: 'Nedoceratops: To Be, or Not to Be?' by Brian Switek

12/14/2011: Today, a paper by Jack Horner and I on the controversial dinosaur 'Nedoceratops hatcheri' was published in PLoS ONE.

Earlier this year, Andrew Farke presented evidence that 'Nedoceratops' is distinct from Triceratops. His paper is freely available here. Our new paper (freely available here) presents evidence that suggests 'Nedoceratops' actually represents a transitional growth stage of Triceratops.

The skull of 'Nedoceratops' at the Smithsonian. Photo taken by J. Scannella, provided courtesy of USNM.

Immature Triceratops have a short, solid frill at the back of their skull. We've recently learned that as Triceratops matured, the frill expanded and became much thinner until it eventually formed large holes in the parietal (the central bone of the frill). For many years, specimens with holes in their parietal had been assigned to a different species of dinosaur ('Torosaurus latus'). But now it seems that rather than being a different dinosaur, 'Torosaurus' is actually the mature form of Triceratops.

The cool thing is that when we examine the frill of Triceratops under a microscope, we can actually see how it was changing shape. We can see how it was growing, we can see how it was expanding, and we can actually see the holes forming in Triceratops with solid frills. We can also see that very large specimens of Triceratops, previously thought to be 'old adults', were still in the process of changing shape when they died.


The microstructure of a Triceratops horn core (from Scannella and Horner, 2011).

So, where does 'Nedoceratops' fit in? 'Nedo' has always been interesting because, unlike typical Triceratops, it has a small hole in the same place where in 'Torosaurus' there are big holes. Jack and I propose that 'Nedoceratops' represents a transitional specimen, a dinosaur that was caught in the act of developing holes in its parietal. Had it not died when it did, it likely would have continued to develop into what has been known as 'Torosaurus.' So, 'Nedoceratops' and 'Torosaurus' actually represent growth stages of Triceratops (Triceratops was named first, so that's the name that survives).

We are still learning a tremendous amount about Triceratops - and there are more discoveries to be announced in the near future . . .


How Raptors Kill

For several years, I have been involved in a study with Denver Fowler, Liz Freedman, and Robert Kambic on how Deinonychus and other 'raptors' (both living and extinct) use their claws to kill. The first part of this study (focusing on living birds of prey) was published in 2009 and is freely available here.

Today, the second part of this study was published in PLoS ONE and is freely available here. Part II applies what we've learned about living raptors to Deinonychus, Velociraptor, and other small theropod dinosaurs. It paints a pretty frightening picture of the predatory habits of these animals. We've named the model for their predatory behavior the 'Raptor Prey Restraint' (RPR or 'Ripper') Model. If you can image what it might be like to be attacked and eaten by a human-sized flightless hawk, you can see why it's probably a good thing that you don't have to worry about Deinonychus whenever you go out for a walk . . . 

An illustration of the RPR predatory behavior model. Artwork by Nathan Carroll (from Fowler et al., 2011).


Turns out, the same features which made these dinosaurs such efficient killers may have also contributed to the origin of flapping and flight in birds. Denver Fowler discusses this more here.

12/14/2011: The new Museum of the Rockies paleohistology website is up and running. Visit it at www.morhistologylab.org

1/31/2011: 'The Great Triceratops Debate Continues' by Brian Switek.

1/21/2011: My fellow ceratopsid worker, Andrew Farke, has published a study on the enigmatic Nedoceratops hatcheri. This paper is freely available online. In our 2010 paper, Jack Horner and I presented evidence which suggests that Nedoceratops is actually Triceratops - an idea that's been around since the 1930's. Andy disagrees and outlines his reasons in the new paper. 'Debates' like this one are part of the scientific process. Hypotheses are scrutinized and tested multiple times. There will be more news on the 'Nedoceratops'-debate in the coming months.


1/12/2011: I had the opportunity to give a short lecture on Triceratops and 'Torosaurus' for Club320 at the Museum of the Rockies 'Coronas with Jack' event. There were some great questions afterwards. Many people would like to know how to tell a male Triceratops from a female. I'll get back to you . . .       
                                                                                                                 

Discussing Triceratops ontogeny with Club320.




Triceratops lives!

Jack Horner and I published a paper in the summer of 2010 which suggests that 'Torosaurus' and Triceratops were actually the same dinosaur. We found evidence that as Triceratops grew up, its skull underwent a series of transformations resulting in the morphology that has previously been referred to as 'Torosaurus latus.' In other words, 'Torosaurus' is actually just a full grown Triceratops. Because Triceratops was named first - that's the name that sticks. I know some people were upset and thought that we were losing Triceratops - but not to worry, Triceratops is here to stay. 'Torosaurus' though . . .



This research was reported on by a number of sources, including:
 
New Scientist, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Earth Magazine, Discovery News , Scientific American


And if you're still worried about Triceratops, you can always join the 'Save the Triceratops' Facebook page.