Judith River/White River Fossils
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Dinosaurs from Judith River formation

Ceratopsians were stocky, herbivorous, four legged, horned dinosaurs. The best known representative of this group is Triceratops.  Ceratopsians had a bony frill extending from the back of their skull and typically had one or more horns on their skull.  Unlike Hadrosaurs, they had just a single row of teeth exposed at a time, although these were replaced frequently.  They had a horny beak at the front of the jaw.

Ceratopsians comprise the suborder Ceratopsia within the ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs.

Centrosaurus

Centrosaurus was a  short frilled ceratopsian with a bumpy frill and two hooking horns at the top of the frill.  It had small hooves with thick legs, much like a modern rhinoceros.  It's believed to have fed on root food and other plant material while roaming in large herds.

 

centro1.jpg (10154 bytes) Tooth is 3/4" long.  Occlusal (chewing) surface of the tooth is at top
Centro.jpg (14826 bytes) Vertebrae is 3" across; 2" thick
pes.jpg (28972 bytes) Phalanx (toe bone) of pes (rear foot) is 3 1/4" long; the left end is consolidated with plaster.
Formation: Oldman
Epoch: Campanian of the late Cretaceous
Length: 20 feet
Weight: 2 tons

Triceratops horridus

Triceratops is the largest of the short-frilled ceratopsians.  The skull and frill are together more than 6 feet long, while the two main horns are more than 3 feet long.   Triceratops is well known from many specimens.  Triceratops skulls are more commonly preserved than most other dinosaurs that had relatively flimsy skulls.    It was a herbivore, browsing in large herds, surviving right up to the extinction of the dinosaurs.  Triceratops was the only Ceratopsian surviving into the Maastrichten.

tri.jpg (12715 bytes) Teeth are about 3/4" long; occlusal surface is at top left.

 

Formation: Scollard
Epoch: Maastrichten, late Cretaceous
Length: 30 feet
Weight: 6 - 12 tons

Pachyrhinosaurus

Smaller than most Ceratopsians and without a horn, Pachyrhinosaurus had a stump of bone above its nose.  It is thought to have used it to either ram other animals or possibly to knock trees over to get at their leaves. pachyrhinosaurus.gif (5331 bytes)

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Pachy.jpg (5644 bytes) Tooth is 1/2" long.

 

Formation: St Marys
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Length: 18 feet
Weight: 1 ton
 

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