Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Light at the end of the Triceratops tunnel

We're back from another great Denver Gem and Mineral show. I even got Bob Dietrich to sign my copy of "Boneheads" by Richard Polsky. Dr. Bakker had some good input about javelinas, and we got our Bacculites jaws back from being prepared by Neal Larson.
Captain Jacob on the SS Pointyface

We're now back in our final push to get this giant Triceratops skull built and out of our workspace. We figure less than 3 weeks to go. All assembly is finished, save for installing the missing maxillary teeth. Steel work is also done (I incinerated 3 t-shirts during that process), all that it really left is details details details. Also painting. Today I should hopefully be finished hollowing out the ironstone from the orbits in the last bit of preparation.
A month's worth of work. Also I made the table.

We've got a space picked out in the museum and will let all of our readers know when it goes on display, so you can come visit it in person. Sad thing is, I don't think this Triceratops has a name yet...
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4 comments:

  1. NickSeptember 28, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    How much of that is real bone?

    Best wishes,
    nick

    ReplyDelete
  2. MalteseSeptember 29, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    Hi Nick,
    Quite a bit. Rostrum, right brow horn and right dentary are reconstructed. Frill is about 60% original. Much of the reconstruction on the frill that you can see is a thin skin over weathered bone. When all is finished, I'd estimate it at 70-75% original bone.

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  3. HikaruSeptember 6, 2012 at 6:37 AM

    Is that a Triceratops horridus or a T. prorsus(its morphology is somewhat confusing: it has the long nasal horn of the latter but the nasal horncore's vertical orientation and rather long snout is indicative of the former). And is it a late subadult or a young adult?

    ReplyDelete
  4. MalteseSeptember 6, 2012 at 10:53 AM

    This is a Triceratops prorsus. While the nasal horncore is vertical, it is also much more massive than what is seen in T. horridus.

    ReplyDelete