Changes

[[File:Cerotopsiansfig037a.jpg|left|200px|thumb|comparison of ''Triceratops'' and ''Torosaurus'' skulls.]]

[[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.]]

[[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>http://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|''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>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091031002314.htm</ref>

There has been a recent claim that ''Triceratops'' may not have existed at all.  According to the ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'',<ref>http://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>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091031002314.htm</ref>

==Evolutionary claims==

==Evolutionary claims==

===Armitage controversy===

===Armitage controversy===

Mark H. Armitage and Kevin Anderson had written a peer-reviewed paper which was published in the July, 2013 scientific journal ''Acta Histochemica''<ref>http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065128113000020</ref> about their discovery of a ''Triceratops'' horn in the Hell Creek formation of Montana, and specifically soft tissue within the horn which was found after using an electron microscope.  Never explained within the publication was the suggestion that the soft tissue came from an animal which died far less than the 65 million years alluded by evolution; in fact, when a minor question was made to a student - Armitage worked at California State University, Northridge as a microscope technician - Armitage was promptly fired due to "his creationist beliefs"<ref>http://www.worldmag.com/2014/07/university_fires_scientist_after_dinosaur_discovery_offers_young_earth_evidence</ref> <ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOh8apxzIU0</ref>. Armitage has since filed a religious/wrongful termination lawsuit against the university.

Mark H. Armitage and Kevin Anderson had written a peer-reviewed paper which was published in the July, 2013 scientific journal ''Acta Histochemica''<ref>http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065128113000020</ref> about their discovery of a ''Triceratops'' horn in the Hell Creek formation of Montana, and specifically soft tissue within the horn which was found after using an electron microscope.  Never explained within the publication was the suggestion that the soft tissue came from an animal which died far less than the 65 million years alluded by evolution; in fact, when a minor question was made to a student - Armitage worked at California State University, Northridge as a microscope technician - Armitage was promptly fired due to "his creationist beliefs".<ref>http://www.worldmag.com/2014/07/university_fires_scientist_after_dinosaur_discovery_offers_young_earth_evidence</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOh8apxzIU0</ref>  Armitage has since filed a religious/wrongful termination lawsuit against the university.

Triceratops is the official state dinosaur of [[Wyoming]].<ref>http://wyoming.gov/general.aspx</ref>

Triceratops is the official state dinosaur of [[Wyoming]].<ref>http://wyoming.gov/general.aspx</ref>

==References==

==References==

[[Category:Dinosaurs]]

[[Category:Dinosaurs]]