Torosaurus

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Torosaurus
Life-sized bronze Torosaurus statue at the Peabody Museum
Conservation status
Exinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Ornithischia Suborder: Marginocephalia Infraorder: Ceratopsia Superfamily: Ceratopsoidea Family: Ceratopsidae Subfamily: Ceratopsinae Genus: Torosaurus Species: T. latus
Binomial name
Torosaurus latus Marsh, 1891

Torosaurus ("bull (or perforated(!)) lizard") was a ceratopsid dinosaur species. It had the biggest head of any land animal known, reaching 8.5 feet (2.6 meters) in length — at least until a 10 foot (3 meter) skull of a Pentaceratops was discovered.

About half the body of the Torosaurus was head, excluding the tail. In total, it was about 25 feet (7.6 meters) long and weighed 8 to 9 tons (7 to 8 tonnes).

[edit] 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.

Remains have since been found in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah and Saskatchewan. Some fragmentary remains, which may be Torosaurus, have been found in the Big Bend Region of Texas. 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. 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. Review by Sullivan et. al. in 2005^[1] has left it as Torosaurus utahensis and somewhat older than T. latus.

Puzzle of the name There is some uncertainty over the derivation of the name - did the root Toro come from Latin 'taurus' (bull), in which case why is it not 'Taurosaurus' or is it related to a Greek root for piercing, hence 'Perforated Lizard' named for its skull fenestrae in contrast to the solid frill of its close relative Triceratops... ? An alternative explanation is to use the Ancient Greek toreus (a 'piercer'), on account of the beast's piercing capability, afforded by the sharp, forward-pointing horns.

[edit] Classification

Torosaurus belonged to the subfamily known as Chasmosaurinae or Ceratopsinae, 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 Cretaceous Period, which ended roughly 65 million years ago. All ceratopsians became extinct at the end of this era.

[edit] Paleobiology

Torosaurus, like all Ceratopsians, was a herbivore. 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. It would have used its sharp Ceratopsian beak to bite off the leaves or needles.

[edit] In popular culture

• Torosaurus was featured in the BBC and Discovery Channel special, Walking with Dinosaurs.
• It was also featured in the Vivendi Universal game, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis.

[edit] References

1. ^ Sullivan, R. M., Boere, A. C. & Lucas, S. G., 2005: Redescription of the ceratopsid dinosaur Torosaurus utahensis (Gilmore, 1946) an a revision of the genus.–Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 79, pages 564-582

• Dodson, P. (1996). The Horned Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Pinceton, New Jersey, pp. xiv-346

[edit] External links

• http://www.dinosaurvalley.com/groups.html
• http://208.164.121.55/reference/dinosaur/dodson.htm
• http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/images/dc_card_toros_big.jpg