Triceratops is a genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 to 66 million years ago in what is now western North America. It was one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs and lived until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. The name Triceratops, which means 'three-horned face', is derived from the Greek words trí- meaning 'three', kéras meaning 'horn', and ṓps meaning 'face'.
Tenontosaurus is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur. It had an unusually long, broad tail, which like its back was stiffened with a network of bony tendons.
The Burpee Museum of Natural History is located along the Rock River in downtown Rockford, Illinois, United States, at 737 North Main Street.
Charles Whitney Gilmore was an American paleontologist who gained renown in the early 20th century for his work on vertebrate fossils during his career at the United States National Museum. Gilmore named many dinosaurs in North America and Mongolia, including the Cretaceous sauropod Alamosaurus, Alectrosaurus, Archaeornithomimus, Bactrosaurus, Brachyceratops, Chirostenotes, Mongolosaurus, Parrosaurus, Pinacosaurus, Styracosaurus ovatus and Thescelosaurus.
Janjucetus is an extinct genus of cetacean, and a basal baleen whale (Mysticeti), from the Late Oligocene around 25 million years ago (mya) off south-east Australia, containing one species J. hunderi. Unlike modern mysticetes, it possessed large teeth for gripping and shredding prey, and lacked baleen, and so was likely to have been a predator that captured large single prey animals rather than filter feeding. However, its teeth may have interlocked, much like those of the modern-day filter-feeding crabeater seal, which would have allowed some filter-feeding behaviour. Its hunting behaviour was probably similar to the modern-day leopard seal, probably eating large fish. Like baleen whales, Janjucetus could not echolocate; however, it did have unusually large eyes, and so probably had an acute sense of vision. The only specimen was found on the Jan Juc beach, where the remains of the extinct whales Mammalodon, Prosqualodon and Waipatia have also been discovered.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) is a natural history museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The museum is the oldest in the state, and the largest natural history museum in the Southeastern United States.
Mammalodon is an extinct genus of archaic baleen whale belonging to the family Mammalodontidae.
The Museum of the Earth is a natural history museum located in Ithaca, New York. The museum was opened in 2003 as part of the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI), an independent organization pursuing research and education in the history of the Earth and its life. Both PRI and the Museum of the Earth are formally affiliated with Cornell University. The Museum of the Earth is home to Earth science exhibits and science-related art displays with a focus on the concurrent evolution of the Earth and life.
Bruce R. Erickson was an American paleontologist and the former Fitzpatrick Chair of Paleontology at the Science Museum of Minnesota. During the course of his lifetime and his 55 years as a paleontologist, he has "collected about a million specimens" and discovered fifteen new types of plants and ancient animal species. His collection includes "a triceratops skeleton" that he discovered in 1961 at the Hell Creek Formation that is considered to be "one of the rarest in the world". His research has focused almost entirely on the Paleocene era in history.
The fossil trade is the purchase and sale of fossils. This is at times done illegally with stolen fossils, and important scientific specimens are lost each year. The trade is lucrative, and many celebrities collect fossils.
Paleontology in South Dakota refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the U.S. state of South Dakota. South Dakota is an excellent source of fossils as finds have been widespread throughout the state. During the early Paleozoic era South Dakota was submerged by a shallow sea that would come to be home to creatures like brachiopods, cephalopods, corals, and ostracoderms. Local sea levels rose and fall during the Carboniferous and the sea left completely during the Permian. During the Triassic, the state became a coastal plain, but by the Jurassic it was under a sea where ammonites lived. Cretaceous South Dakota was also covered by a sea that was home to mosasaurs. The sea remained in place after the start of the Cenozoic before giving way to a terrestrial mammal fauna including the camel Poebrotherium, three-toed horses, rhinoceroses, saber-toothed cat, and titanotheres. During the Ice Age glaciers entered the state, which was home to mammoths and mastodons. Local Native Americans interpreted fossils as the remains of the water monster Unktehi and used bits of Baculites shells in magic rituals to summon buffalo herds. Local fossils came to the attention of formally trained scientists with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Cretaceous horned dinosaur Triceratops horridus is the South Dakota state fossil.
Paleontology in Wyoming includes research into the prehistoric life of the U.S. state of Wyoming as well as investigations conducted by Wyomingite researchers and institutions into ancient life occurring elsewhere.
Eomysticetus is an extinct genus of baleen whale from the late Oligocene (Chattian) Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina.
The Ashley Formation is a geologic formation in South Carolina. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene period.
The Chandler Bridge Formation is a geologic formation in South Carolina. It preserves fossils dating back to the Chattian of the Paleogene period, corresponding to the Arikareean in the NALMA classification. The formation overlies the Ashley Formation and is overlain by the Edisto Formation.
Aetiocetidae is an extinct family of toothed baleen whales known from the Oligocene and latest Eocene, so far only from rocks deposited in the North Pacific Ocean. The whales ranged in size from 3 to 8 metres long. Many of the described specimens were discovered from the Upper Oligocene of the Japanese Morawan Formation, the largest known one from the Morawan's Upper tuffaceous siltstone. Other formally described extinct toothed mysticetis from this time are smaller, from 3 to 4 metres in length. Mysticeti with true baleen are seen in fossils from the Upper Oligocene. The monophyly of the family is still uncertain, as are the evolutionary relationship between the early toothed baleen whales and the early and extant edentulous baleen whales. However, the cladistic analyses of Coronodon and Mystacodon seem to indicate that Aetiocetidae and Llanocetidae are more closely related to crown Mysticeti than to Mammalodontidae, Coronodon, and Mystacodon.
Coronodon is a genus of toothed (transitional) baleen whales from the Early Oligocene Ashley and Chandler Bridge formations of South Carolina. The genus contains three species: the type species C. havensteini, and additional species C. newtonorum and C. planifrons.
Ankylorhiza is an extinct genus of toothed whale that lived in what is now the United States during the Oligocene epoch, between 29 and 23.5 million years ago. The type and only known species is A. tiedemani, though two fossil skeletons may represent an additional, second species within the genus. Ankylorhiza was about 4.8 meters (16 ft) long, with a long, robust skull bearing conical teeth that were angled forwards at the tip of the snout.
The Dueling Dinosaurs or Montana Dueling Dinosaurs is a fossil specimen originating from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. It consists of the fossilized skeletons of a tyrannosaur and a Triceratops horridus entangled with one another and entombed in sandstone. This is identical to the Fighting Dinosaurs, an 80-million-year-old specimen found in 1971 Mongolia where a Velociraptor and Protoceratops were locked in battle and preserved. The "dueling" inference comes from the numerous injuries sustained by both dinosaurs, including a tooth from the tyrannosaur embedded within the Triceratops, although it is not known whether they were actually buried fighting one another. Tyrannosaurus rex was a 40 ft. long carnivore weighing 10 tons and ruled the Cretaceous period with strong jaws and sharp teeth to tear up to 500 pounds of flesh and bone in a single bite. Triceratops was bigger than an elephant and was notified by a rounded skull with horns and a bony frill to intimidate and defend against predators. Despite the scientific importance of the specimen, it remained obscure for decades due to a lengthy legal dispute over property rights to the specimen, which has since been resolved. The fossil is in the possession of and being studied by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where it went on display in 2024.
