WWD: Torosaurus latus (Adult)
Added 2023-08-14 21:26:28 +0000 UTCOne of the last and largest of the ceratopsians, Torosaurus had a massive frill, and the largest known skull of any land animal in Earth's history, at up to three metres in length. The genus has a complicated taxonomic history regarding its potential synonymity with Triceratops, but most recent research supports its status as a separate taxon. Torosaurus' primary difference from Triceratops was its huge frill, which had holes in it, unlike Triceratops' smaller, solid frill. In any case, the two genera were extremely closely related and roamed widely over Laramidia during the Late Maastrichtian.
Here we get to one of WWD's more insane decisions, which was to use Torosaurus instead of Triceratops (demoted to merely being a corpse). Triceratops fossils outnumber Torosaurus fossils like a hundred to one, they make up roughly half of all dinosaur fossils from the Hell Creek Formation, while Torosaurus fossils are so rare they make up a small fraction of one percent (Torosaurus was more common in southern Laramidia, a semi-arid, savannah-like environment dominated by the giant titanosaur Alamosaurus). The rarity of Torosaurus versus Triceratops likely has some sort of ecological significance, but it's difficult to understand what this means given the current evidence. Although you could choose to interpret just that one location the episode is set as having more Torosaurus than Triceratops, sample size bias you know.
The large scutes scattered on its body here are based on skin impressions of Triceratops showing their presence (post-cranial elements of Torosaurus are less well-known than Triceratops), while I've also shown a large inflatable nasal sac. Analogously similar to ankylosaurs, ceratopsids had very large and complex sinus cavities, but the purpose of these is unknown. Some sort of resonating chamber or inflatable display structure has been informally suggested, however.
Comments
The purpose is disputed but it seems to be largely visual, since many had holes in them that would have made them too fragile for defence against predator (Triceratops frills being an exception). The issue with identifying its purpose is sexual dimorphism is very difficult to determine with relative certainty from fossils, we don't know if horns and frills were bigger or smaller in males or female because there's no way we can determine if it's a different species or two different members of the same species. For Triceratops, you got individual fossils like Nedoceratops, Ojoceratops, or Tatankaceratops which only differ by very slight details, making it possible, if not probable, they're either Triceratops juveniles or Triceratops individuals with some developmental oddities. The two Triceratops species (T. horridus and T.prosus) were even once considered different sexes of one species until it was determined they did not live at the same time, making this possibility very unlikely. WWD didn't say sauropods died out, but it did say sauropods declined, which is TECHNICALLY true in the sense that all non-titanosaur sauropods died out during the Early Cretaceous. I don't know the exact reason why, but it could be because palaeontology tended to be a lot more Anglocentric back then, and sauropods were seemingly absent in North America for a large portion of the Cretaceous (from about 110 - 70 MYA). Of course, more fossils from areas like Europe, Africa, Australia, and South America found since have made it clear sauropods were widespread and successful until the end of the Cretaceous, it was just North America that was an outlier.
2023-08-15 03:38:00 +0000 UTCWhat did ceratopsians use their head frills for? I was told they used them to appear larger but that doesn't seem practical. My own theory is that they used them to make it more difficult for predators to get at their necks, but I'm not sure how likely that is. Or that they used them for sexual display but if that's the case why haven't we wound a skull with a smaller frill that would indicate that its from the other sex? You also mentioned that this creature lived with a Titanosaur in arid environments, WWD said that sauropods as a whole died out after the Jurassic, so I thought that sauropods from then on weren't discovered yet. but looking online Titanosaurus were discovered in the late 19th century. But they never did show anymore sauropods after Time Of Titans. why was that? were sauropods from the early cretaceous and onward not well known? or was radioactive dating not as accurate? or were the other locations simply lacking in suitable Titanosaur material for a role in any other episode?
Cartoon dinosaur
2023-08-14 23:05:20 +0000 UTC
