Scientists discover near-complete Triceratops fossils in Wyoming

A new discovery by a team of palaeontologists near the town of Newcastle in Wyoming has given the American north-west state claim as the prehistoric home of a fascinating creature: Triceratops.

Dinosaur fossils dating back roughly 67-million years were recently discovered by a rancher in the area, and when he led scientists to the site, they realised the importance of the find. Buried in the ground were three near-complete Triceratops skeletons – among the most complete ever found.

“You normally never find more than one Triceratops in any one place,” Dr Anne Schulp, palaeontologist at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, told the Huffington Post. “But here we have – and these examples are also of different ages. A truly exciting find.”

Wyoming looked a little different during the Cretaceous period, when these herbivores roamed the planet. It was most likely a subtropical flatland, and over time, erosion of the soil has exposed the fossils from this period.

“I think we also have a feeding site for Tyrannosaurus rex, which is very exciting,” Peter Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, said. “This is potentially a site where we can learn the behaviour of two different species.”

Larson says that some of the bones on the largest Triceratops appear to have been “bitten through”, and probably met its end at the hands (or rather, jaws) of a T-Rex. The proximity of the other skeletons, and the differences in size, suggest that the two older animals may have been protecting the younger one. No Triceratops fossil find has revealed as much information about their behaviour as this latest find, and continuing excavation is bound to reveal even more fascinating insights.