Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
not mere herbivores, possessing no real means of defense other than through herd-
ingtogetherasbighappyfamilies? Didtheirmeansofmeannessevershowontheir
faces?
As many dinosaur fans can relate—especially those under ten years old—the
genus name
Triceratops
, assigned in 1889, translates as “three-horned face.” For
generations, paleontologists and laypeople alike have looked at those three horns,
imagined them pointing forward on a charging
Triceratops
, and thought, “I would
hate to be skewered by those.” Two of these horns, the longest, are positioned one
above each eye and thus are nicknamed “brow horns.” These horns give it a bull-
likeappearance,butremembertheywereonananimalthatweighedabouttentimes
as much as a modern bull. The third horn is more centrally located above the beak
(prefrontal) that defined the top of a
Triceratops
mouth. Paleontologists are also
now sure that
Triceratops
horns changed in size and shape throughout their lives,
becoming more formidable with age.
These horns took considerable energy to grow and were very much a part of
these dinosaurs' lives. Hence it makes sense, evolutionarily speaking, that these
horns had some useful purpose, whether to prolong life to reproductive age (“Back
off,predatorytheropod!”),ensurereproduction(“Hey,baby,checkoutmyhorns!”),
correctlyidentifyothersofyourspecies(“Wecandothis,right?”),orfendoffrivals
within your species (“I found her first!”).
At first, people weaponized these horns, imagining them as deadly counter-
points to ravaging tyrannosaurs. Paleontological artist Charles Knight (1874-1953)
most famously depicted such a scenario in a 1927 mural, in which a lone
Tricer-
atops
stands defiantly in front of a
Tyrannosaurus
, its paired brow horns pointing
suggestively at the predator's soft underbelly. Since then, children and adults alike
have imagined
Triceratops
fatally goring its attacker with those horns, or
Tyranno-
saurus
somehow slipping past this armature to get in a triumphant killing bite.
Sadly,ichnologyhaslittletotellusaboutwhetherornot
Triceratops
everprac-
ticed such self-defense arts against
Tyrannosaurus
or any other predator. For in-
