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 Torosaurus latus
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Torosaurus (meaning "perforated lizard") was a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur. In Taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus. A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic Ceratopsidae (sometimes spelled Ceratopidae) is a speciose group of Marginocephalian Dinosaurs including Triceratops and Styracosaurus It had one of the largest skulls of any land animal known, reaching 2. 6 meters (8. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International 5 ft) in length. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit From head to tail, Torosaurus probably measured about 7. 6 meters (25 ft) long and weighed an estimated 4 to 6 tonnes (4. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. 4 to 6. 6 tons). The short ton ( S/T) is a unit of mass equal to 2000 lb (around 907
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Discoveries and species
Two Torosaurus skulls were discovered in southeastern Wyoming by John Bell Hatcher in 1891 and the species was subsequently named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1891, two years after Triceratops. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. John Bell Hatcher ( October 11, 1861 &ndash July 3, 1904) was an American Paleontologist and fossil hunter best known Othniel Charles Marsh ( October 29, 1831 &ndash March 18, 1899) was one of the pre-eminent Paleontologists of the 19th century who Triceratops (traɪˈsɛrətɒps is an extinct Genus of herbivorous ceratopsid Dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian
Remains have since been found in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah and Saskatchewan. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. North Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. The State of Utah (ˈjuːtɔː or) is a western state of the United States. Saskatchewan (səˈskætʃəwən) is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of 588276 Some fragmentary remains, which may be Torosaurus, have been found in the Big Bend Region of Texas and in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico. The Big Bend is a colloquial name of a geographic region in the western part of the state of Texas in the United States along the border with Mexico Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. Fossil evidence suggests it may have been uncommon; remains of its relative Triceratops are more frequently found.
Torosaurus species:
- T. latus Marsh, 1891 (type species)
Misassignments:
- T. In Taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus. gladius Marsh, 1891 (=T. latus)
- T. utahensis Lawson, 1976 (=T. latus)
(NB: The last species was originally described as Arrhinoceratops utahensis by Gilmore in 1946. Arrhinoceratops (meaning "no nose-horn face" derived from the Ancient Greek "a-/α-" "no" rhino-/ρινο- "nose" Review by Sullivan et al. in 2005[1] has left it as Torosaurus utahensis and somewhat older than T. latus. )
Although the name Torosaurus is frequently translated as 'bull lizard' (from the Latin 'taurus' (bull), it probably means 'perforated lizard' (from the Greek word 'toreo' (pierce, perforate). Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c [2] The name refers to the holes, or fenestrae, in the frill of this animal. This was probably intended by Othniel Charles Marsh (the original namer) to contrast with the condition in Triceratops, which had a solid frill. Othniel Charles Marsh ( October 29, 1831 &ndash March 18, 1899) was one of the pre-eminent Paleontologists of the 19th century who Triceratops (traɪˈsɛrətɒps is an extinct Genus of herbivorous ceratopsid Dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian Much of this confusion results from the fact that Marsh never explicitly gave the etymology of the name in his papers.
Classification
Torosaurus belonged to the subfamily known as Chasmosaurinae, within the family Ceratopsidae, within the Ceratopsia (which name is Ancient Greek for "horned face"), a group of herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks which thrived in North America and Asia during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Ceratopsidae (sometimes spelled Ceratopidae) is a speciose group of Marginocephalian Dinosaurs including Triceratops and Styracosaurus Ceratopsia or Ceratopia (ˌsɛrəˈtɒpsiə/ /ˌsɛrəˈtoʊpiə Greek: "horned faces" is a group of herbivorous, beaked Dinosaurs Parrots are birds of the roughly 350 Species in 85 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes, found in most warm and tropical regions The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Ma (million years ago to Ma that is from the end of the Triassic to the beginning The Cretaceous (kriːˈteɪʃəs, usually abbreviated 'K' for its German translation "Kreide" is a geologic period and system, reaching from the end of Recent studies indicate that Torosaurus is most closely related to Triceratops. Triceratops (traɪˈsɛrətɒps is an extinct Genus of herbivorous ceratopsid Dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian [3] Jack Horner has suggested in public lectures that Torosaurus may in fact represent the adult version of one sex of Triceratops, pointing out that there are no juvenile specimens of Torosaurus and that approximately 50% of all subadult Triceratops skulls have two thin areas in the frill that correspond with the placement of "holes" in Torosaurus skulls. John "Jack" R Horner (born June 15, 1946) is an American paleontologist who discovered and named Maiasaura The theory is that all Tricertops had solid frills up to adulthood, but on reaching sexual maturity, one sex or the other would have developed longer frills as a form of display. To counterbalance the extra weight of the elongated frill, holes would have necessarily developed in the bone. While this theory does explain the absence of any Torosaurus specimens younger than adults and also explains the even split between uniformly thick frills and frills with thin patches in subadult Triceratops specimens, the theory is not widely accepted in the scientific community and has apparently not been put forward by Dr. Horner outside of informal lectures.
Paleobiology
Torosaurus, like all ceratopsians, was an herbivore. Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell During the Cretaceous, flowering plants were "geographically limited on the landscape", so it is likely that this dinosaur fed on the predominant plants of the era: ferns, cycads and conifers. A fern is any one of a group of about 20000 Species of Plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta Cycads are a group of Seed plants characterized by a large crown of compound leaves and a stout trunk. It would have used its sharp beak to bite off the leaves or needles.
In popular culture
- Torosaurus was featured in the BBC and Discovery Channel special, Walking with Dinosaurs. Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and Walking with Dinosaurs was a six-part Television series produced by the BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the UK
- Torosaurus was featured in Vivendi's "Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis"
- "Torosaurus" is a nickname for Ray Toro, one of the guitarists in the band My Chemical Romance. Jurassic Park Operation Genesis (known colloquially as ' JPOG' or ' JPOG') is a Video game for the PC, Xbox, and My Chemical Romance (often shortened to MCR or' My Chem') is an American alternative / post-hardcore quintet that formed in 2001
References
- ^ Sullivan, R. M. , A. C. Boere, and S. G. Lucas. 2005. Redescription of the ceratopsid dinosaur Torosaurus utahensis (Gilmore, 1946) and a revision of the genus. Journal of Paleontology 79:564-582.
- ^ Dodson, P. (1996). The Horned Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Pinceton, New Jersey, pp. xiv-346
- ^ Farke, A. A. 2006. Cranial osteology and phylogenetic relationships of the chasmosaurine ceratopsid Torosaurus latus; pp. 235-257 in K. Carpenter (ed. ), Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
- Dodson, P. (1996). The Horned Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, pp. xiv-346
- Haines, Tim & Chambers, Paul. (2006)The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life. The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life is an encyclopedia featuring 111 of the prehistoric animals from the Walking With series, as well as an additional one Canada: Firefly Books Ltd.
External links
- http://www.dinosaurvalley.com/Visiting_Drumheller/Kids_Zone/Groups_of_Dinosaurs/index.php
- http://www.dinosaurier-web.de/galery/pages_t/torosaurus.html
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