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Triceratops 'Never Existed' -- Three-horned fossils are actually juvenile torosauruses
Newser ^ | August 3, 2010 | Rob Quinn

Posted on 11/09/2010 7:32:29 PM PST by SunkenCiv

One of the best-known dinosaur species may not have really been a dinosaur species at all, according to new research. Scientists compared triceratops skulls to those of a lesser-known species, the torosaurus, and concluded that the triceratops were actually young torosauruses, New Scientist reports. They believe the three-horned dinosaur's skull changed shape as it aged.

Researchers say the bones of the horns and neck frill in the young dinosaurs remained spongy until they became full adults. "Even in the most mature specimens that we've examined, there is evidence that the skull was still undergoing dramatic changes at the time of death," one of the researchers says. Torosaurus and triceratops will now likely be reclassified as a single species -- but don't shed a tear just yet: The name "triceratops" will be the one that stays, the scientists say.

(Excerpt) Read more at newser.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: dinosaur; dinosaurs; godsgravesglyphs; paleontology; sionnsar; torosaurus; triceratops
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To: SunkenCiv

Jeez, you start right off by insulting your readers. And then you expect adult responses?

To joke or not to joke, that is the question. You’ve left us on the horns of a dilemma.


21 posted on 11/09/2010 7:48:16 PM PST by Rocky (REPEAL IT!)
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To: The Magical Mischief Tour

Do you want to think that one through again?


22 posted on 11/09/2010 7:48:26 PM PST by null and void (We are now in day 658 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Torosaurus? Sounds like bull.


23 posted on 11/09/2010 7:48:40 PM PST by william clark (Ecclesiastes 10:2)
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To: naturalman1975

One thing is for sure. Santaclausosaurus is DEFINITELY real.


24 posted on 11/09/2010 7:49:20 PM PST by ari-freedom (Islam is at war against America, while America is at the mall.)
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To: Tax-chick
Don’t you know there are *colorful plastic figures* of Triceratops?

I still have mine. It's gray not colorful but don't tell me it's not real. It's real!

25 posted on 11/09/2010 7:49:36 PM PST by TigersEye (Who crashed the markets on 9/28/08 and why?)
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To: Tanniker Smith

“Next they’ll say there was no such thing as a brontosaurus! “

You mean Apatosaurus...(runs)


26 posted on 11/09/2010 7:52:51 PM PST by ari-freedom (Islam is at war against America, while America is at the mall.)
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To: naturalman1975
There is no way I am telling my nephew that his favourite dinosaur never existed...

Mine too!! As a kid... I always thought Triceratops was the coolest.

The headline really needs to be the other way around: Torosaurus has been mistaken as a separate species, when it may just be a mature Triceratops.

27 posted on 11/09/2010 7:54:21 PM PST by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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To: SunkenCiv
Individual Triceratops are estimated to have reached about 7.9 to 9.0 m (26.0–29.5 ft) in length, 2.9 to 3.0 m (9.5–9.8 ft) in height,[8][9] and 6.1–12.0 tonnes (13,000–26,000 lb) in weight.[10] The most distinctive feature is their large skull, among the largest of all land animals. It could grow to be over 2 m (7 ft) in length,[6] and could reach almost a third of the length of the entire animal.[5]

The frilled skull reached 2.6 meters (8.5 ft) in length. From head to tail, Torosaurus is thought to have measured about 7.6 meters (25 ft) long and weighed 4 to 6 tonnes (4.4 to 6.6 tons).

That is a LOT of baby fat!

28 posted on 11/09/2010 7:56:01 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Made in America, by proud American citizens, in 1946.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Next you're going to tell me that Pluto isn't a planet, or that Barry isn't a natural born citizen.


Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

29 posted on 11/09/2010 8:07:29 PM PST by The Comedian (I really missed you. Next time, I'll adjust for windage.)
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To: ApplegateRanch

Tricera’s are bigger than Toro’s???

eh??

Someone got some splaining to do!


30 posted on 11/09/2010 8:08:27 PM PST by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: InvisibleChurch

I feel the same way!


31 posted on 11/09/2010 8:15:56 PM PST by Dryman ("FREE THE LONG FORM!")
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To: gotribe
Hey moderator, close the thread already!

You mean make it extinct!?

32 posted on 11/09/2010 8:19:45 PM PST by 6SJ7 (atlasShruggedInd = TRUE)
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To: GeronL

Yes. I can hear them now.

“Not unusual; my Granny shrank quite a bit when she got old....”


33 posted on 11/09/2010 8:30:49 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Made in America, by proud American citizens, in 1946.)
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To: ApplegateRanch

Torosteoporosisaurus?


34 posted on 11/09/2010 8:35:57 PM PST by GeronL (http://libertyfic.proboards.com <--- My Fiction/ Science Fiction Board)
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To: GeronL

LOL!!!!!!!


35 posted on 11/09/2010 8:45:16 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Made in America, by proud American citizens, in 1946.)
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To: SunkenCiv

NOOOOOOOooooooOOOOOO!!

Wait, what? Still calling the triceratops. What’s the big deal? Never mind....


36 posted on 11/09/2010 8:46:31 PM PST by swatbuznik
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To: SunkenCiv

Nonsense. Georo-Soros was a quisling as a juvenile, not a Triceratops.


37 posted on 11/09/2010 9:34:21 PM PST by hellbender
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To: TheCause

38 posted on 11/09/2010 9:43:23 PM PST by stormer
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To: The Comedian

Cheers!

39 posted on 11/09/2010 9:45:14 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: null and void
Looks a lot like a triceratops to me...

It IS a triceratops. Or at least it will be when they stop screwing around with the description.

Torosaurus and triceratops will now likely be reclassified as a single species—but don't shed a tear just yet: The name "triceratops" will be the one that stays, the scientists say.

So the title should have been, "Amazing Triceratops grew huge collar as adult!"

No damn paleontologist is going to take away our triceratops.

40 posted on 11/09/2010 9:59:00 PM PST by TChad
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