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Top Ten Dinosaur and Fossil Finds: Most Viewed of 2009

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Ambrosia
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« on: December 24, 2009, 04:28:20 am »

Triceratops Transformation

The paleontologists also amassed a large collection of Triceratops fossils, which had died in various stages of life, from eastern Montana's Hell Creek formation from the late Cretaceous epoch (145.5 to 65.5 million years ago).

The dinosaur skulls, which ranged from dinner plate-size to human-size, came from a range of animals.

When the paleontologists studied the skulls, they found that the youngest animals' tiny, straight horns changed as they got older: Juveniles' horns actually curved backward, whereas adult horns pointed forward.

The animal's distinctive neck frill also changed—the triangular spiked bones surrounding the frill in juveniles became flattened and lengthened into a bony fan-like shield.

"In this ten-year project we were able to collect a very good growth series that no one had ever seen before, and see this transformation that occurs," Goodwin said.

"We could document the extreme changes that occur with growth, [like] the direction that the horns are pointing."
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