Fossil for Sale!
Dinosaur, Pterosaur fossils
for sale in auction.

from top

from back
click pictures to enlarge

TheARTIST: 
This is a 1:10 scalereconstruction of T. horridus' skull based on published data and photographsof real skulls. The model skull was sculpted by dinosaur artist  LashaTschondia of the Republic of Georgia.  Tschondia has made modelsof animals from childhood.  He is now to 29 years old. He is, by trade,a professional sculptor. He completed is training at the Art Academy ofGeorgia (Russia). He has been engaged in paleon- tology for about 16 years. He studied paleontology under the guidance of  paleontologist Dr.Viacheslav Chchikvadze. In 1996, he became acquainted with Dr. SpencerLucas of the NMNH,  when he was in Tbilisi.  Dr. Lucas initiated his visit to the USA.  He has worked on many different originalpaleontological sculptures with a number of US organizations.
 
 

.

                                                        click to enlarge 

Name:CompleteTRICERATOPS SKULL, 1/10 Scale Replica
           Triceratopshorridus
Time:    Late Cretaceous Period (73-65 millionyears ago)
Location:  North America

BACKGROUND
Triceratops horridus ("horrible three horned face") roamed what isnow the American west during the Late Cretaceous Period.  It grewto a length of 9 meters (about 27 ft.), measured 3-4 meters (10-12 ft.)at the top of its back and weighed as much as 5 tons (about the same asmodern African elephants).  Two meter (6 ft.) skulls are common amongTriceratops specimens and the largest land animal skull ever found, 2.6meters (8.5 ft.) is from a close relative: Pentaceratops.

Triceratops and their kin are often described as exhibiting herdingbehavior similar to that found in the grazing mammals of East Africa. Contemporary descriptions show herds of different kinds of plant-eatingdinosaurs browsing the Cretaceous landscape on the alert for T.rex andother predators.  Triceratops would have used its beak to crop offthe low- growing plants that were its food.  Like many herbivoresnow, it did not have binocular vision.  Having the eyes on the sideof the head allowed them to spot predators in a wider field of vision. Large horns are one of the Triceratops most distinctive features. Covered with a fingernail- like sheath, these horns were probably usedlike antlers and horns on modern animals - for combat with other Triceratopsover mates or territory, and for defense from predators.

CLASSIFICATION
Triceratops is one of many ceratopsian dinosaurs that proliferatedduring the Cretaceous, each with its own arrangement of horns and frill. It has been popularized for many years as the arch rival of T.rex, andpictured in numerous "fights to the death."  New research by paleontologistsis redefining the old image of this remarkable dinosaur.  Two meter(6 ft.) skulls are common among Triceratops specimens and the largest landanimal skull ever found - 2.6 meters (8.5 ft.) - is from a close relative:Pentaceratops.

The taxonomic relationships of dinosaurs are a complicated arrangementfull of long Greek and Latin words.  This complex system helps usunderstandwhich dinosaurs are related to one another as well as the characteristicsthey have in common.  The "systematics" of a specimen tell the storyof its lineage and evolutionary relationships.

Among dinosaurs, Triceratops is an ornithischian and within that group,a marginocephalian (all ceratopsians and pachycephalosaurs are inhere). The ceratopsians are further divided into two groups that are defined byspecific skull characteristics.  Triceratops and its close
relatives Pentaceratops, Chasmosaurus and Torosaurus all have long,low faces, and horns over the eyes that are longer than the horns on thenose. The other group is characterized by shorter faces, shorter frills and nosehorns that were longer than the orbital (eye) horns.  In this secondgroup you'll find Styracosaurus, Monoclonius and Centrosaurus.  Withinits own group, Triceratops is differentiated by not having fenestrae (openings)in its relatively short bony frill, and it had epoccipitals (small conicalbones) along the edge of its frill.

Like all ceratopsians, Triceratops had large and complex batteries ofteeth.  The teeth were locked together next to one another along thejaw, as well as, vertically (new teeth pushing up from below or down fromabove).  Rather than grind food, these batteries of teeth (both topand bottom) worked together to chop and slice the vegetation cropped bythe animal's beak.  As teeth along the cutting edge wore out, theywere replace immediately.

The long horns and bony frill are two of Triceratops' most distinguishingcharacteristics.  Fossil remains show both to have many grooves andchannels for blood vessels.  The presence of these blood vessels raisesinto question the value of the bony frill as a defensive
armor.  It is now thought that the frill functioned primarilyas a display device, as a body heat regulator, and as an attachment pointfor the massive jaw muscles.  The bony horn cores were likely coveredby keratin sheaths much like those of modern cows.  These sheathswould enlarge and lengthen the size of the horns on a living animal.

Body posture is another area under discussion among paleontologists. Did Triceratops carry their legs straight under the body like mammals orsprawled out ot the side like lizards?  Current thinking describesTriceratops with straight hind legs that were almost directly under thebody.  The front legs present the major questions and evidence canbe found to support both sides.  At the moment the stronger evidenceseems to support a semi-sprawling posture.  While often depicted withits head held horizontally (horns pointed up), Triceratops more than likelycarried its head tipped to the front with its beak down and horns to thefront.