Re: More on the baby Triceratops

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Given the nature of ceratopian beaks (strong, sharp, in essence
potentially deadly), I doubt that adults would risk trying to carry
babies any great distance with them.

I do however have another theory: those enigmatic semi-sprawled
forelimbs in adults may be a left-over from when they're young, and use
grasping forelimbs to clasp ape-style to a patch of dino-fuzz on the
adults' undersides.

Seriously...?  :)

Matthew Burton-Kelly wrote:
> 
> > They're fragmentary evidence as far as behaviour inference goes.
> > Footprints can tell you what the bottoms of the feet MAY have been
> > doing at the time (different behaviours may result in similar
> > prints, and vise versa).  However there's more to an animal's
> > behaviour than just what their feet are doing (or MIGHT have been
> > doing).
> 
> Perhaps the parental triceratops were carrying the babies?  My first
> image when I read this was of lions carrying cubs around by the scruff
> of the neck.
> 
> Matt


-- 
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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist         http://heretichides.soffiles.com
Melbourne, Australia        http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
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