Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
what this topic is about, while also introducing its main topic in a way that engages
and encourages our imaginations.
Perhapsmorethananyotherpartofpaleontology,theresearchspecialtyof
ich-
nology
—the study of
trace fossils
(tracks, trails, burrows, feces, and other traces
ofbehavior,includingfossilexamples)—is aboutthatexciting intersection between
science and flights of fancy. When applied to dinosaurs, ichnology becomes even
more stimulating. In fact, I like to argue that for us to truly grasp how dinosaurs
behaved, to really know how they lived as animals and interacted with one anoth-
er and their environments, we absolutely must study their trace fossils, and not just
their bones, in order to paint the most vivid picture imaginable of their world.
In the story above, I placed together dinosaurs that may not have been in the
same time and place, although most are from near the end of the Cretaceous Period
(about 70 million years ago) and in an area defined approximately by Montana and
Alberta, Canada. Furthermore, even those dinosaurs overlapping in both respects
still may not have encountered or affected one another. However, in this deliberate
mash-up of dinosaurs and their behaviors, real dinosaur trace fossils inspired nearly
every element of this story.
Even better, many of these trace fossils have been discovered or studied just
recently. Because of these finds, paleontologists are reconsidering some of what we
thought we knew for sure about dinosaurs, either confirming long-suspected beha-
viors or revealing astonishing new insights into their lives. In other words, dinosaur
tracefossilsveryoftenfulfillorexceedourexpectationsofthesemostcelebratedof
fossil animals.
Let'sstartwiththe
Triceratops
fightasanexample.Itturnsoutagoodnumber
of
Triceratops
head shields, which are composed of paired parietal and squamosal
bones, bear deformities in the squamosals. These look like former healed wounds
and are consistent with injuries caused by
Triceratops
horns. Ceratopsians, a group
of dinosaurs that includes
Triceratops
and related horned dinosaurs, also made
tracks, which are preserved in Cretaceous rocks from about 70 million years ago in
