5 replies to this topic

[Time_Traveller]

A study has rejected claims that Triceratops and the lesser-known Torosaurus are one and the same type of dinosaur.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-17192624

[CyberMisterBeauty]

That thing on its head look like the draws that butterflies have on their wings.

Edited by CyberMisterBeauty, 02 March 2012 - 10:31 AM.

[Dead Redshirt]

I would say they're subspecies. I have an Uncle who's a paleontologist and he wrote a book about Horned dinosaurs, (title: Horned Dinosaurs), and in it, he talks about these horned dinosaurs of this type and how have many different subspieces where each have different horn configurations but similar heads. So, I think the story is a little confusing. The claim was saying the Triceratops was a young Torosaurus, when in reality is likely just really a subspecies, with the Triceratops being the most famous of these species.

Edited by Dead Redshirt, 04 March 2012 - 04:14 AM.

[Caiman]

Archaeologists do a fine job but when we're separated from these species by tens of millions of years and have only a handful of fossils to work with, we're bound to find that some of our understanding is wrong, we'll never been 100% certain about these creatures and how they really looked. An interesting one to think about, if we found this skull and had no other information to go on, could we ascertain it belonged to a creature with huge floppy ears, a long trunk and giant tusks? More educated men could probably ascertain some physical features, but still... (as an aside, it's scary how this elephant skull is not a million miles from the shape and features of a human skull...)

[Raklian]

I could say with almost certainty that this skull belongs to an Hell Knight... that's before they migrated to Mars. The skull looks eerily similar!

[Dead Redshirt]

Here's another very interesting article which features my Uncle towards the end:

http://www.nytimes.c...s-disputed.html