Available evidence for Triceratops engaging in fights with T. rex

[DD1991]

Ever since the premiere of the 1925 film Lost World, there have been several films or other animated sequences showing Triceratops engaging in head-on duels with Tyrannosaurus rex by using its horns to poke T. rex in the skin. Just now, I found this 2012 Smithsonian Magazine article evaluating the notion that Triceratops engaging in head-on duels with Tyrannosaurus rex:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/did-tyrannosaurus-ever-battle-triceratops-95464192/

 

Is there is growing scientific consensus that Triceratops would still have been easily preyed upon by T. rex even if it had tried to repel it with its horns (never mind that Triceratops could outpace T. rex)?

[jpc]

If you ever get to Casper (in the square state of Wyoming) come see out T rex (named Lee Rex).  He/she has what we are calling a Triceratops horn wound in its femur.  We have not been able to prove it scientifically, because I cannot think of a way to do so (and neither can anyone who has seen it).   But it certainly could be a horn wound.  

 

Or I could take a photo at work if I remember.

 

 

[ynot]

On 3/30/2024 at 8:06 PM, jpc said:

Or I could take a photo at work if I remember.

I would like to see that, so please tie a string around your finger,

[jpc]

Here are some pix.  First a few photos of the whole specimen named Lee Rex.  It consists of about 22 articulated vertebrae, 12 articulated ribs from the left side, a pile of disarticulated right side ribs, left side pelvis and femur, and a few chevrons.  First tail to robs shot.  Note that the femur is still in its hip socket but well out of natural position, splayed over the ilium.  

 

 

Then a ribs to tail shot.

 

 

And here is a view of the hole in the femur, which is also visible in the two photos above.  The hole is not healed and I suspect it might have killed Lee.  Note that it is not only a hole but a groove in the femur into the hole... a skid mark, I call it.   If you folks need help seeing these things, let me know.  

[ynot]

5 hours ago, jpc said:

Note that it is not only a hole but a groove in the femur into the hole..

Way cool! Has anyone checked to see if the tip of the horn broke off in the femur?

[siteseer]

As the article noted, many people (scientists, amateur collectors, and kids of all ages) have imagined great battles between the two going back at least to Charles R. Knight's famous rendition of an encounter.  I would think they were aware of each other by scent and then sight but usually avoided conflict especially if Triceratops traveled in even a rather small herd.  If Tyrannosaurus did hunt in pairs, they might have followed a herd watching for an older, slower individual or a smaller, younger, unwary one.  An adult Triceratops would've outweighed a T.rex and it didn't have to gore it to seriously injure it as the article indicated.  Any attack that involved the T. rex getting knocked over or tripping while trying to avoid the horns could have left it with broken bones or at least on the ground in a vulnerable position. 

 

I read somewhere that the last dinosaurs might have been T. Rex and Triceratops.  Maybe attacks became more common out of desperation.

[jpc]

4 hours ago, ynot said:

Way cool! Has anyone checked to see if the tip of the horn broke off in the femur?

It didn't.  That hole is smooth green bone.  Besides, if it did, it would likely only be the keratin sheath... not fossilized.  

 

We also have a Torosaurus skull with a rex bite mark.  In the bite mark is a nodule of dome sort.  We had that CT scanned to see if it was the tip of a rex tooth.  Alas, it is a blob of ironstone