Troodon Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Ceratopsian Dinosaurs are estimated to be around 60% of the population in the Hell Creek. There are currently two species of Triceratops described T. horridus and T. pororsus along with the sister taxon Torosaurus latus. You can easily make an argument that all of these species are the same and for the purpose of my collection everything is identified as Triceratops sp. so I don't get into an argument with myself and others. Most individuals collect teeth and horns so will start with that but for novices here is a skull with different unique elements identified I selected a couple of teeth from different jaw positions so you can see how different they can be. Teeth in the jaw are like conveyor belts. On the attached sketch the chewing surface is the top tooth and when that wears replacement teeth are ready to take over. You see those used teeth sold everywhere has Spitters. The next photo is a jaw fragment with 10 visible teeth. Whats neat about this specimen is that you can see how the teeth are stacked. Maxilla follows - 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 So lets look at horns This Brow horn is super big at 40" (102cm) Long and is associated with the Nasal Horn next to it at 20" Long. I also include a field photo of the big horn Another Brow Horn, this one is straight. Few Nasal Horns Some infant to juvenile nasal horns from the youngest to oldest Believe this to be a brow horn 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Here is an interesting Nasal horn with the Nasal bridge attached to it. Pretty small horn. Here is a spectacular specimen the front end of a skull with the Nasal Horn and Upper Nasal Beak attached. Size: 30"(76cm)H by 28"(71cm)W Edited September 5, 2015 by Troodon 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Good complete specimens of Lower beaks are hard to find because its fragile. Here is the best I've ever seen. One more skull element called an eppoccipital. Its a frill ornament Now lets move beyond the skull to the first Cervical Vertebra. In the photo on the right you can see the hole where the occipital condyle of the skull fits into. Trike skulls were some of the biggest in the dinosaur world. Some Caudal Vertebra 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Another Caudal Vertebra but much further back on the tail Ceratopsian foot unguals were big and I selected two to show The holes in the far right picture are muscle attachment points My other Jurassic Park posts Anzu W http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57267-my-jurassic-park/ Allosaurus http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57284-my-jurassic-park-allosaurus/ Dino of Uzbekistan http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57337-my-jurassic-park-dinosaurs-from-uzbekistan/ Edited September 5, 2015 by Troodon 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracorex_hogwartsia Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Hi Frank, thank you for a wonderful write up and posting pictures of these fantastic fossils. I really enjoy reading your posts and looking at all of your amazing fossils. Your collection is absolutely unbelievable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Hi Frank, thank you for a wonderful write up and posting pictures of these fantastic fossils. I really enjoy reading your posts and looking at all of your amazing fossils. Your collection is absolutely unbelievable! Thank you, I appreciate your comments. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isurus90064 Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Fantastic, Troodon!! I'm enjoying your posts tremendously. Aside from the amazing fossils, I also think those diagrams really contextualize the specimen quite nicely. Thanks for taking the time and effort. Fossil shark teeth from all over: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/2380-extraordinary-common-teeth/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Ceratopsian Dinosaurs are estimated to be around 60% of the population in the Hell Creek... Wow! This is a very interesting note...if you would have asked, I would have guessed hadrosaur. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 What can be said more than, WONDERFUL! Thank you for all of your work. This is all amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Claw Posted September 6, 2015 Share Posted September 6, 2015 Very nice write up. Are you lucky enough that those are all your fossils? If so your are a very lucky man. 👏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Very nice write up. Are you lucky enough that those are all your fossils? If so your are a very lucky man. Thanks and yes I'm the proud owner of everything I post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 Wow! This is a very interesting note...if you would have asked, I would have guessed hadrosaur. I thought the same thing then became enlightened I was very surprised. Now the numbers are all guess work but here is the data from one old source. There may be more current data but going with this one for now. N ESTIMATION OF THE VARIOUS HELL CREEK FORMATION DINOSAUR POPULATIONSA paleo-population study is one of the most difficult of analyses to conduct in field paleontology. Here is the most recent estimate of the proportions of the eight most common dinosaurian families in the Hell Creek Formation, based on detailed field studies by White, Fastovsky and Sheehan (1998). •Ceratopsidae 61% •Hadrosauridae 23% •Ornithomimidae 5% •Tyrannosauridae 4% •Hypsilophodontidae 3% •Dromaeosauridae 2% (represented only by teeth) •Pachycephalosauridae 1% •Troodontidae 1% (represented only by teeth) 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Andy- Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Your collection is without doubt, one of the best in TFF. Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 Fantastic, Troodon!! I'm enjoying your posts tremendously. Aside from the amazing fossils, I also think those diagrams really contextualize the specimen quite nicely. Thanks for taking the time and effort. Thanks, those "back seat" shark guys always trying to be mindful that there may be folks out there that are clueless when it comes to dinosaur anatomy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustPlainPetrified Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 (edited) Okay...what's NOT to like? Great collection and super presentation. Thanks for putting the effort into this. Grant Edited September 7, 2015 by JustPlainPetrified Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 More excellent show n tell stuff. Hadrosaurs, strangely enough, are more common in the Lance. I don't have a study to back it up, but i will stand by it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 More excellent show n tell stuff. Hadrosaurs, strangely enough, are more common in the Lance. I don't have a study to back it up, but i will stand by it. Agree, all I know about my collecting in the Lance it's all about Hadrosaurs but I've never seen anything to support it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Thanks so much for this - terrific post!I've been lucky enough to be able to collect several times in the Hell Creek, and have collected a bit of material that I've always assumed to be Ceratopsian, including several pieces of frill material and what I can now can comfortably call a nasal horn: My friend that I collect out there with has collected a complete juvenile lower jaw and several large vertebrae over the years. I believe these were sent to the MOR in Bozeman. I still kick myself, though, when I think about the huge, complete triceratops tooth I came across. I didn't know about consolidants like paleobond or PVA (even super glue would have helped) at the time, and was horrified when the specimen crumbled as I tried to pick it up. I've still got some of the pieces, but I know I didn't get everything, so all I've got now is a hopeless bottle of black fossilized enamel fragments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted September 18, 2015 Author Share Posted September 18, 2015 Thanks for your comments glad it was helpful. We all have experienced what you did with the tooth, just a learning process. Your horn could also be a tip of a brow horn. What's the bottom look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoWilliam Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverSoulz Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Fantastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 17, 2016 Author Share Posted October 17, 2016 Have not posted recently to this My Jurassic Park-Triceratops so here is a new addition to my collection I was collecting at a Ranch in Montana and the landowner showed me a item he had found and thought it was a Pachy spike. I suggested it was a Ceratoposian horn but he wanted to investigated it a bit further and I was not able to purchase it. A week went by and I get a call telling me that he did authenticate as a trike horn but was putting it on eBay. I was fortunate to be the winning bidder and able to acquire this very rare beauty. Its about 7 cm high and I believe its a right postorbital horn. It compares very favorably to the Baby Triceratops Skull studied at the University of California, Berkeley, see Figure 5, my last image. I call it Ceratopsian because I do not have the complete skull and do not know what species it comes from, there may be several to choose from. The one in my collection is slightly longer than the one in the paper. Lateral View Medial View Ventral View Dorsal View The paper illustration of the baby Trike horn Paper: www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/mbg/Goodwin_et_al_2006.pdf UCMP 154452 baby triceratops horn 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 Very nice. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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