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Sunday, 4 December 2011
The Classic Battle
Tyrannosaurus or Triceratops?
This battle might have been common 65 million years ago. The opponents;
a giant predator of the time, Tyrannosaurus, a 13 metre long theropod and
a herbivorous frilled, three horned Triceratops, T-Rex's ultimate prey.
This predator-prey relationship was very common in Cretaceous, mainly in
North America, but also in Asia. Tyrannosaurs and ceratopsids are often
discovered in the same area. It all started since the Cretaceous;
Raptorex vs Archaeoceratops ( Asia )
Dilong vs Psittacosaurus ( Asia )
Alioramus vs Udanoceratops ( Asia )
Gorgosaurus vs Styracosaurus ( North America )
Daspletosaurus vs Chasmosaurus ( North America )
Albertosaurus vs Pachyrhinosaurus ( North America )
Tyrannosaurus vs Triceratops ( North America )
It seems the war goes on and on. Based on fossils of some ceratopsids,
bite marks left by the tyrannosaurs shows that these herbivores are a
major food source for the predators. Eventhough the ceratopsids were
around, other prey like ankylosaurs, ornithomimids, hadrosaurs
and pachycephalosaurs, were options. With horns as weapons,
although some have none, ceratopsids had powerful horny beaks.
This war might have been well-fought as these two prehistoric
beasts were true enemies.
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