The discovery of a Triceratops skeleton was announced just a few weeks ago in Thornton, Colorado.
The 66-million-year-old remains were found by workers at the construction site of a new public safety building – but that wasn’t all that was there.
Just yesterday, museum crews excavating the site found a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth among the Triceratops fossil – and that’s likely all the remains they’ll find from the deadly prehistoric giant.
According to the museum researchers, T.rex teeth sometimes fell out as they ate, and the T.rex whose tooth this was was likely scavenging when it found the Triceratops carcass.
T.rex teeth sometimes fell out as they ate, and the T.rex whose tooth this belonged to was likely scavenging when it found the Triceratops carcass. Pictured is the T.rex from the 1993 movie Jurassic Park
According to the Denver Post, the museum crews announced the discovery during a press conference today, where they also opened a cast used to protect and transport the fossil.
‘I don’t think there’s going to be a complete T.rex at the site,’ said Dr Joseph Sertich, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator of dinosaurs, during the press conference.
‘These are pretty common, they come in and chew these old carcasses as they’re laying out and pop out a few teeth.’
In terms of the Triceratops fossil, Dr Sertich says that the find is one of three Triceratops skulls found along the Colorado Front Range and has likely been laying there for at least 66 million years.
TYRANNOSAURUS REX HAD SERRATED TEETH
A carnivorous group called theropods had serrated teeth like a steak knife that let them chomp efficiently through the flesh and bones of their prey.
Theropods included the largest land predators in Earth’s history, including the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex.
They first appeared about 200 million years ago and were the dominant terrestrial meat-eaters until the age of dinosaurs ended about 65 million years ago.
Sue, the most complete fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex specimen ever found
The study involving eight theropod species revealed their previously unknown tooth complexity.
Internal dental tissues were arranged in a way that reinforced the strength and prolonged the life of teeth that were serrated like steak knives for easy dismembering of other dinosaurs.
University of Toronto Mississauga paleontologist Kirstin Brink said in 2015 that fossil evidence showed that T. rex’s teeth could crush bone.
Its teeth have been found embedded in the bones of its prey and chunks of bone appear in its fossilised dung.
‘But the serrations were most efficient for piercing flesh and gripping it while ripping off a chunk of meat, called the “puncture and pull” feeding style,’ Brink said.
Two teeth from the lower jaw of a T.rex specimen from Montana called ‘B-rex,’ showing the variation in tooth size within an individual
The teeth of Tyrannosaurus measured up to 9 inches (23 cm) long, and dinosaurs were able to continuously grow teeth throughout their lives. When a tooth was broken, another could replace it.
‘It could take up to two years for a tooth to grow back in the big theropods like T. rex,’ Brink said.
‘Therefore, having specially reinforced teeth means less tooth breakage and less gaps in the jaw, leading to more efficient eating.’
A carnivorous group called theropods had serrated teeth like a steak knife that let them chomp efficiently through the flesh and bones of their prey. Theropods included the largest land predators in Earth’s history, including the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex
A horn and shoulder blade has been unearthed so far by crews working to uncover the fossil.
Triceratops dinosaurs were herbivorous and had two big horns over their eyes and a smaller nose horn, as well as a parrot-like beak and a large frill that could reach nearly 1 meter (3 feet) across.
According to the Natural History Museum in London, UK, its horns could have been used to ward off attack from Tyrannosaurus.
A partial Triceratops fossil found in 1997 has a horn that was bitten off, with bite marks that match Tyrannosaurus.
This photo shows some of the initial work by the crew uncovering the Triceratops fossil. The picture shows a tendon, tooth and part of a rib from the Triceratops specimen
The Triceratops fossil was protected by a plaster cast during excavation, and then cut open by Mike Getty, a chief fossil preparatotor with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, to reveal the specimens horn
This photo shows some of the initial work by the crew uncovering the Triceratops fossil. The fossil shown below shows the bottom jaw, top jaw and eye socket
There have also been puncture marks found on fossil frills showing that male Triceratops also used their horns to fight each other, perhaps to impress females.
Dr Sertich says most fossils found in the Denver area are from the Ice Age roughly 10,000-12,000 years ago and are bones of mammoths and camels, but this was an exception.
TRICERATOPS FACTS
Triceratops dinosaurs were herbivorous and had two big horns over their eyes and a smaller nose horn, as well as a parrot-like beak and a large frill that could reach nearly 1 meter (3 feet) across.
According to the Natural History Museum in London, UK, its horns could have been used to ward off attack from Tyrannosaurus.
A partial Triceratops fossil found in 1997 has a horn that was bitten off, with bite marks that match Tyrannosaurus.
Triceratops likely lived in herds to warn each others of danger and reduce their chances of being targeted by predators. Pictured is a reconstruction of what a Triceratops may have looked like
There have also been puncture marks found on fossil frills showing that male Triceratops also used their horns to fight each other, perhaps to impress females.
Triceratops’ frills could have been used to attract mates, or as a way for members of the same species to recognize one another, or to regulate body temperature.
Triceratops likely lived in herds to warn each others of danger and reduce their chances of being targeted by predators.
Triceratops was herbivorous and had two big horns over its eyes and a smaller nose horn, as well as a parrot-like beak and a large frill that could reach nearly 1 meter (3 feet) across. Pictured is a Triceratops skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History
‘My heart was racing,’ Dr Sertich told the Denver Post.
‘As soon as (we) uncovered it and realized this was a horn of a triceratops and not just another leg bone or part of a hip, it made the site really exciting.
‘A lot of times these will be plowed up and they won’t be recognized.
Most fossils found in the Denver area are from the Ice Age roughly 10,000-12,000 years ago and are bones of mammoths and camels, but this was an exception
‘And we’re really lucky in this case that it was recognized as fossils and we got the call and were out here and able to salvage the site, and actually collect these fossils.
Now, researchers with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science plan to carefully expose the fossil and look for any other bones that may be on the site.
The site is currently being secured by the city of Thornton.