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Hi everyone! Here's another odd one from a wholesale batch. It's from the Hell Creek Formation of Powder River County. I believe it's the tip of a Ceratopsian beak and am hoping for confirmation. It measures 7.4 cm. What do you all think?

Tiny once thought to be a Triceratops its actually a Torosaurus Paper says Tiny is the most complete Cretaceous dinosaur found in Colorado http://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/05/thornton-triceratops-torosaurus/ Current bone map provide by Joe Sertich curator Denver Museum of Nature and Science Press Release from Museum

Jordan Mallon et al. paper on the occurrence of Torosaurus in Canada. They also address the recent debate about whether Torosaurus is the mature growth form of Triceratops https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/195/1/157/6540273#.Ynbe6O5gDpY.twitter

So over the past few days I was visiting Bozeman from Raleigh North Carolina as I was visiting the MSU campus because I've been accepted to start as a freshman in autumn 2021. And I hope you know what I am trying to major in. I mean you know what forum we're on I don't have to spell it out. Anyway, in that time I managed to spend all day visiting the Museum of the Rockies which is considered one of the Mecca halls for paleontology. Our crazy old boi Jack used to be Prof and curator there before... well you know. My home museum, the NC Museum of Natural Sciences are taxonomic lumpers when it comes to paleontology but they are passive lumpers. They are nothing compared to what the MOR has going on holy snarge I was surprised. I like going to different museums like this because it shows different perspectives based on findings that vary by institution. While I don't agree with a lot of it, it's healthy to expose oneself to different ideas and conclusions. Also I just couldn't help but feel giddy in the midst of all these dinosaurs. I'll update this post with pictures in a few moments... I will also post what the info cards on the exhibits state about each specimen. Here is Big Mike. A metal replica of MOR 555 commonly known as the Wankel although now more known as the Nation's T. rex since the og skeleton's move to the Smithsonian. I spent at least 30 minutes admiring the sculpt of this beautiful beast alone. Our first is a tibia of a Hadrosaur indet. found in 80 mya rock in Chotaeu, Montana so likely the Two Medicine Formation however this is unique because this is from it's lower strata which we don't know much about that's why it isn't identified as Maiasaura, as that dinosaur lived later. Here are some nice trace fossils and geology stuff, Here's the Precambrian globe Here's how sediments move through time. There's dioramas too. Starting with the Cambrian of course with Anomalocaris and working our way up. Here we're getting some Ordivician and Silurian description, Devonian like creatures. Although Coelocanths first evolved 400 mya they live all the way up to the present day. Stethocanthus below Next we start going in depth into the dinosaurs more updates coming stay tuned...

I have a random fossil/dinosaur question. Has it been properly researched and somewhat/ mostly proven whether or not Triceratops did in fact exist I have read multiple articles ( on the internet and not peer reviwed) that have stated it is thought that the Triceratops and Torosaurus are one in the same They have even gone on to say that because nobody has yet to discover any juvenile Torosaurus fossil pieces,skulls, or skeletons that Triceratops could possibly be young Torosaurus, and as they matured their frills changed shape much like some anima look s coloring changes during maturation. What are people's thoughts? I just ask because I see a lot of teeth labeled Triceratops and so far none labeled Torosaurus.

So I went to the Black Hills Insitute and I made a lot of photos, so I thought I'd share. The Black Hills Institute museum in Hill City is pretty small, it's just one hall. But this one hall is absolutely packed with stuff. This is also the home of the T. rex Stan. Many of the skeletons are casts, but there are plenty of real fossils here as well. The skeleton of Stan. This is the real skeleton and the real skull is placed beside it in the corner. But I didn't even notice that at the time. Skull of Torosaurus. Notice the holes in the frill. Triceratops doesn't have these holes in it's frill. Tylosaurus proriger. Another real specimen. Two Allosaurus skeletons. An Ornithomimid as well as Stan, the Senckenberg Edmontosaurus mummy and Tarbosaurus skull in the background. Skeleton of Albertosaurus, skull of Albertosaurus on the left and skull of Gorgosaurus on the right. A second T. rex skeleton. And a lineup of T. rex skulls in the background. Thescelosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus. Juvenile Edmontosaurus skeleton below the second T. rex skeleton. Cast of the Triceratops Raymond. Crestless Pteranodon on the left as well as a Nyctosaurus? arm/wing at the bottom. Dromaeosaurus in the middle between the legs of the Triceratops and a primitive Sirenian with legs on the right. Bambiraptor and Archaeopteryx skeletons. Foot and skull of Deinonychus and Herrerasaurus, Dromaeosaurus and Eoraptor skulls at the bottom. T. rex arm (cast of Sue) and brian endocast left. Nanotyrannus skull on the right. Mongolian Dinosaurs. Saichania and Saurolophus skulls at the top. Velociraptor skull and oviraptorid partial skeletons below that. Prenocephale, Oviraptor, Archaeornithimimus and Alioramus at the bottom. Tethyshadros top left, and Psittacosaurus nest, and skeletons on the bottom left. Brontosaurus leg in the middle and baby Apatosaurus on the right. Velociraptor and Protoceratops fighting on the far right. Edaphosaurus skeleton. And this is just a small selection of the photos I took. There's just so much stuff here and I only spent a few hours here. The gift shop is also worth a vist btw. I bought a rather nice replica of a tooth from Stan and a Thescelosaurus phalange.