What Scientists Think This Hole Found In A Triceratops Really Means

The frills found in the triceratops skull have a tendency to use various other holes and other divices, and scientists have spent years trying to find out they are. More prominent theories involving these holes include damage that occurs during a fight with other Triceratop, defensive scars, or maybe something happens with age.

A recent study was conducted by experts with the zoik and Chieti-Pescara University in Italy which focused specifically on one such hole found in the frills triceratops nicknamed “Big John.” Research, published in scientific reports on April 7, did not explain these signs – called “Fenestrae” – in general, but revealed some interesting details about Big John.

While the Big John puncture is likely to be caused by a battle with other Triceratop which is given the location of the damage and its rather oval, the most interesting thing for scientists is what seems to occur after an initial injury.

Why this is different

By studying a piece of bone around the puncture of Big John, the researchers found what it looked like the proof of the bone that had healed himself. The accurate time frame of the wound and healing process has been complicated to show precisely because of fossils that are tens of millions of years, but by comparing the progress of clear healing with what we know about more modern animals, experts estimate Big John must have death -Kira six months or more after the fight.

Moreover, the nature of the wound healing does not seem to match what scientists previously seen in other dinosaurs. Instead, Big John’s frills seem to have recovered in a way that is more similar to other mammalian injuries and mammals.

This study so far only utilizes small bone fragments of the remains of Big John, because the full frame has since been sold at auction, according to Sciencenews. To learn more and maybe know whether Big John is an anomaly or if there are more ways dinosaurs recover than the first is believed, a more comprehensive examination is needed.