New Study Refutes Idea That Torosaurus and Triceratops Are Same Dinosaur
Posted on February 29, 2012
A 2010 study proposed that Triceratops and Torosaurus are both the same species. Montana State University paleontologists John Scannella and Jack Horner argued that Triceratops and Torosaurus were the same dinosaur at different growth stages. The image above show Triceratops (top) and Torosaurus (bottom) skulls.
Yale University paleontologists have concluded a study they say indicates that Triceratops and Torosaurus are different animals and not adult and juvenile versions of the same dinosaur. The researchers came to their conclusion after a detailed structural analysis of 35 Torosaurus and Triceratops skulls. The paper appears in the Feb. 29 issue of the journal PLoS One. It refutes the idea that Torosaurus is merely the adult form of Triceratops.
Nicholas R. Longrich, a postdoctoral fellow in Yale's Department of Geology and Geophysics and the lead author of the study says, "We're saying, 'No, they're different.' They're separate animals."
The researchers point to the existence of physically mature (adult) specimens of Triceratops and relatively immature (juvenile) specimens of Torosaurus. This would not be possible if Torosaurus were an adult Triceratops. The researchers also say anatomical differences further support the claim that Torosaurus and Triceratops are different species. The research say in one animal the frill - a broad sheet of bone curving up from the back of the head - has a pair of large circular openings. In the other, it is a solid sheet of bone.
"Torosaurus Is Not Triceratops: Ontogeny in Chasmosaurine Ceratopsids as a Case Study in Dinosaur Taxonomy," PLoS One, published 29 Feb 2012: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032623