Triceratops tooth

Triceratops are herbivorous dinosaurs with a specific, well-known appearance. This massive animal is the size of an elephant, with a huge head, decorated with three horns and a wide bone collar. The habitat of Triceratops was the plains of Laramidia - the western part of North America, elongated from north to south.

Triceratops fed on tough vegetation, which they consumed in huge quantities. After all dinosaur weighed at least 8 tons! Therefore, the dental system was very complex.

The teeth of Triceratops grew constantly. The old teeth did not fall out, but fused together with the new ones, forming a kind of dental "turret"of 3-5 teeth. Such "turrets" were bonded into batteries of 7 or 8, and there could be from 3 to 5 “dental batteries” on each half of the jaw, depending on age. Together, this gives up to 800 teeth! These are ral millstones for grinding vegetation.

The peculiarity of this copy of the Triceratops tooth is the presence of a root. This means that the tooth was young and was at the base of the dental battery. The shape of the tooth is triangular, with a leaf-like edge. A convex stiffening rib runs along the tooth, making it resistant to fracture. The color is due to the mineral composition of the rocks. An interesting detail is the presence of small dark "flowers" on the surface. These are dendrites, mineral structures based on manganese compounds.