A new study concludes that Triceratops weren’t a genus at all. They were young members of the genus Torosaurus, previously thought to be a related, larger, but less awesome genus. The confusion came about, they say, because Torosaurus species had different shaped head frills from Triceratops. John Scannella and Jack Horner, the authors of the study, put together a series of skulls (illustrated here) showing ‘Triceratops’ morphing toward a Torosaurid skull shape as they get larger and older. They say the bone in that frill stayed immature, and was thus exceptionally able to change shape much more than previous paleontologists thought possible.
The good news is Torosaurus have long been known to be totally badass-looking. Check out this 1905 rendition.
h/t to Boing Boing.
