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> Einiosaurus

Einiosaurus

author: Walter B. Myers/Novapix

reference: t-din03-15302

Image Size 300 DPI: 33 * 25 cm

A two ton, 20 foot long Einiosaurus wonders a Cretaceous forest 72 million years ago in what is today northwestern Montana. Einiosaurus is believed to have had a low, strongly forward-curving nasal horn resembling a can opener and a pair of large spikes atop a relatively small frill. Like the better known Triceratops, Einiosaurus was a Ceratopsid, a family of large four-legged plant-eating dinosaur characterized by beaks, rows of shearing teeth in the back of the jaw, and elaborate horns and frills. While they resemble defensive shields, the frills are in fact relatively fragile, suggesting that they may have served a purpose other than protecting against a brute force attack. One possibility is that the frills were employed as visual displays in order to intimidate rivals and attract the opposite sex.

Keywords for this photo:

2010 - ANIMAL - BOTANY - CRETACEOUS - DINOSAUR - EARTH - EINIOSAURUS - FAUNA - FLORA - HISTORY OF EARTH - ILLUSTRATION - MESOZOIC - ORNITHISCHIA - PLANT -