avatarPanos Grigorakakis

Summary

The "Dueling Dinosaurs" fossil, featuring a juvenile T. rex and a Triceratops in a possible death match, has been acquired by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences after 14 years in private hands, promising new insights into dinosaur paleobiology.

Abstract

The "Dueling Dinosaurs" fossil, which includes a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex and a full-grown Triceratops, was discovered in 2006 but remained inaccessible to scientists due to private ownership. Now, with its acquisition by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, researchers can study this potentially iconic battle scene, which may reveal evidence of a lethal struggle or post-mortem entombment. The fossil is remarkable for its completeness, including skin impressions and potential soft tissue remains, and is expected to answer questions about dinosaur behavior, growth stages, and the presence of feathers on tyrannosaurs. The specimens will be housed in a new museum expansion with a state-of-the-art paleontology lab, and the public will have the opportunity to learn more about these prehistoric adversaries.

Opinions

  • Paleontologist Scott Sampson describes the "Dueling Dinosaurs" as an extraordinary find, potentially capturing ancient dinosaur behavior in the fossil record.
  • The fossil's integrity and the context of the late Cretaceous surroundings are considered remarkable by Lindsay Zanno, emphasizing the scientific value of the specimens.
  • There is a consensus that the full excavation and study of the skeletons could solve the 66 million-year-old mystery of whether these dinosaurs engaged in a brutal fight or were buried together by chance.
  • The fossil's acquisition by the museum is seen as a significant event, providing a unique opportunity to confirm violent interactions between T. rex and Triceratops, as often depicted in dinosaur media but less supported by scientific evidence until now.

Spectacular Fossil of ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ Can Finally Reveal Its Secrets

The astonishing find features a juvenile T.rex and a full-grown Triceratops practically intertwined…

Close-up to the juvenile T. rex specimen of ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ / Attribution to Matt Zeher / Image used with permission.

“The ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ is one of the most remarkable fossil discoveries ever made. It is the closest thing I have ever seen to large-scale fighting dinosaurs. If it is what we think it is, it’s ancient behavior caught in the fossil record. We’ve been digging for over 100 years in the Americas, and no one’s found a specimen quite like this one.”- Scott Sampson, paleontologist

Paleontologists will finally have the chance to study in detail an exquisite fossil containing what appears to be the most complete Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops skeletons on record, tangled together in possible epic combat.

Originally discovered in 2006, the ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ fossil was kept in private hands and locked away in warehouses for 14 years. The prestigious find was finally acquired by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) and is promised to shed new light on the paleobiology of the most famous prehistoric adversaries ever existed.

An iconic battle?

Did the juvenile tyrannosaur and the full-grown ceratopsian actually fight each other to death? Or did the two animals entombed together by chance, perhaps as carcasses caught on the same river sandbar? No one knows for sure, but there’s a series of tantalizing clues that need to be taken into account.

For example, the juvenile Tyrannosaurus had most of its teeth broken, its skull is cracked and it also bears a broken finger. Triceratops for its part had tyrannosaur teeth embedded in its spine.

Whether the aforementioned injuries were sustained during a brutal battle between the two adversaries or occurred after each creature’s death is yet to be concluded. Most scientists agree that the full excavation of the skeletons may help solve this 66 million-year-old mystery.

The ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ fossil may represent a lethal struggle between a Triceratops and a juvenile T. rex. / Art reconstruction by Anthony Hutchings / Image used with permission.

A precious fossil

The ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ fossil is a truly remarkable find. It is thought to include 100% of both creatures’ bones, as well as body outlines, skin impressions, and possibly even the remains of soft tissues and stomach contents.

“What is remarkable about these specimens is they still preserve all their context about the late Cretaceous period surroundings. So we can really dive in and know there is integrity in the scientific data that will come from these specimens,” said Lindsay Zanno, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University and the NCMNS head of paleontology.

Some of the questions researchers want to answer about the fossils include determining if molecules are preserved in the skin impressions and if the tyrannosaur fossil shows evidence of feathers. Moreover, the juvenile tyrannosaur specimen could shed new light on the growing stages of the ‘tyrant lizard king’ and its transformation from an agile hunter to a bulky superpredator.

The ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ compared to a human/ Chart by the author (2020).

Epilogue

Despite being a recurring theme across most dinosaur media, the iconic showdown between T.rex and Triceratops was only weakly backed up by scientific evidence. The examination of the ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ fossil could confirm -among others, that such violent interactions did indeed take place in the Late Cretaceous North America 66 million years ago…

The fossil will be housed in a new expansion to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, including a state-of-the-art paleontology lab, that will open in 2022. For more information about this spectacular fossil as well as the future exhibit visit the official site of the NCMNS here.

Relevant Reads:

References

Laura Geggel, (Nov. 2020), Cretaceous cold case of ‘dueling’ T. rex and Triceratops may finally be solved, LiveScience, Link: https://www.livescience.com/dueling-dinosaurs-fossils-to-museum.html

Michael Greshko, (Nov. 2020), ‘Dueling Dinosaurs’ fossil, hidden from science for 14 years, could finally reveal its secrets, National Geographic, Link: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/11/dueling-dinosaurs-fossil-finally-set-to-reveal-secrets/

Ashley Strickland, (Nov. 2020), ‘Dueling dinosaurs’ fossils show Triceratops, T. rex, may have died after a battle, CNN, Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/17/world/dueling-dinosaurs-triceratops-t-rex-scn-trnd/index.html

Mike Sager. (2017), Will the Public Ever Get to See the “Dueling Dinosaurs”?, Smithsonian Magazine, Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/public-ever-see-dueling-dinosaurs-180963676/

Dinosaurs
Paleontology
Tyrannosaurus
Science
Discovery
Recommended from ReadMedium
avatarKarolina Kozmana
Common side effects of not drinking

By rejecting alcohol, you reject something very human, an extra limb that we have collectively grown to deal with reality and with each…

10 min read
avatarUnbecoming
10 Seconds That Ended My 20 Year Marriage

It’s August in Northern Virginia, hot and humid. I still haven’t showered from my morning trail run. I’m wearing my stay-at-home mom…

4 min read
avatarKallol Mazumdar
I Went on the Dark Web and Instantly Regretted It

Accessing the forbidden parts of the World Wide Web, only to realize the depravity of humanity

8 min read
avatarIain Stanley
I Went Speed-Dating in Tokyo: It Explains Japan’s Sexless Population Explosion!

Exclusive conversations with a bevy of beautiful, single girls? What could go wrong…

8 min read
avatarKevin Beaumont
Recall: Stealing everything you’ve ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC is now possible.

Photographic memory comes to Windows, and is the biggest security setback in a decade.

9 min read
avatarmo husseini
50 Completely True Things

This is a repost of a list of posts I made to Threads last fall.

5 min read