Torosaurus Characteristics

Torosaurus measured 25 feet (7,6 metres) in length, 7 feet (2 metres) tall at the hips and weighed around 5 tons. Torosaurus possessed one of the largest skulls of any known land animal. Its enormous horned skull was 8 feet long. Torosaurus had a large, bony neck crest, a short horn on the snout, 2 long eyebrow horns and a toothless beak. The horns were possibly also used in courtship rivalry. The presence of 2 large holes in the crest led palaeontologists to believe that it was used for attracting mates and to intimidate opponents. The holes would have been covered by stretched skin creating vivid eye-spots when flushed with blood. These holes were probably filled with muscle. This would have made the massive frill lighter, but also less useful as a protection against enemies. Torosaurus was a quadrupedal dinosaur and moved around on its 4 thick, strong legs.

Torosaurus was a herbivore and its diet would have consisted of ferns, cycads, gingkos, conifers and flowering plants. They would use their sharp beaks to bite off leaves and needles. It was able to handle the toughest vegetation including small branches. Torosaurus could chew well with its cheek teeth.

In 1891, two years after the discovery of Triceratops, a pair of ceratopsian skulls with elongated frills bearing holes were found in southeastern Wyoming by John Bell Hatcher. Juvenile individuals have been excavated from a bonebed in the Javelina Formation of Big Bend National Park.

Torosaurus was named by Othniel Marsh in 1891.