Re: [Re: Triceratops defence]

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <th81@umail.umd.edu>]

At 05:34 PM 6/14/99 MDT, Caleb Lewis wrote:
>
>> 
>> II) Best defense is a good offense: see I, then charge.

>Now, T.
>rex, would he have been able to maybe dodge this charge and end up in a good
>biting position at the tric's side maybe? Or, is this expecting too much of
>the t.rex?

Well, sure, a _T. rex_ might be able to sidestep a charge.  No attack and no
defense is perfect.  But just because a boxer *might* be able to dodge a
right cross doesn't mean the other boxer isn't going to try it.

(Also, the charge would presumably be a short distance charge, not like a
medieval knight charging with a lance from across a field).

>This may also raise another question, I do believe that
>dromaesaurids (I hate that word, can never spell it right)

Close: dromaeOsaurids.

>were able to do
>this, now that would just be an unfair fight, a pack of something from the
>dromy family ganging up on a tric.....heheheh.....

True, but by the time _Triceratops_ was around (latest Maastricthtian) the
surviving dromaeosaurids (at least those found so far) were very small, and
there is no evidence for group hunting in these particular species.

>> III) Herd behavior.  If _Triceratops_, like some other ceratopsids, were
>> herd animals
>
>
>    Is there any evidence of this anywheres?

As Andy Farke has pointed out: not yet.  There was a recent report of
multiple individuals of _Triceratops_ found at one site (at a golf course?
if memory serves) in Denver: this MIGHT have been a life assemblage, but it
could be an attitional assemblage: until we know the geology of the site, it
is uncertain.

Larry Dunn wrote:
>In fact, would not Triceratops have been more
>maneuverable than T. rex?  (Not faster.)  Dr. Holtz,
>are you reading this?

Yes, I am.

One could argue that with the wider "wheel base" (wider hips), and being
quadrupedal, _Triceratops_ might more easily be able to shuffle around than
a tyrannosaur.

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Vertebrate Paleontologist     Webpage: http://www.geol.umd.edu
Dept. of Geology              Email:tholtz@geol.umd.edu
University of Maryland        Phone:301-405-4084
College Park, MD  20742       Fax:  301-314-9661