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Triceratops

2 bytes added, 20:59, September 26, 2018
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[[File:Cerotopsiansfig037a.jpg|left|200px|thumb|comparison of ''Triceratops'' and ''Torosaurus'' skulls.]]
[[File:Fdt566e4.jpg|left|200px|thumb|American Museum specimen of ''T. horridus''; possible metaplastic bone can be clearly seen in the frill.]]
There has been a recent claim that ''Triceratops'' may not have existed at all. According to the ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'',<ref>httphttps://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20012471-501465.html</ref><ref>http://www.vertpaleo.org/publications/index.cfm</ref> ''Triceratops'' may have been an animal known as ''[[Torosaurus]]'', but at a much younger growth stage. Scientists theorize that ''Triceratops'' - like all reptiles - continued to grow with age; this growth included changes to the frill which - according to the theory - changed from the deeply-curved solid bone of ''Tricertops'' into the "straight-backed" frill of ''Torosaurus'', a change of which also involved a ''loss'' of bone (the ''fenestræ'', or "windows" in the frill) as a result. According to Dr. Jack Horner, this process involved "metaplastic" bone which caused a change in the shape of the skull as the animal aged, i.e. the backward pointing horns of a baby ''Triceratops'' turning into the forward pointing horns of an adult.<ref>httphttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091031002314.htm</ref>
==Evolutionary claims==
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