Once in a lifetime, a discovery is made that completely changes the way we look at paleontology. In 2006, a group of dinosaur hunters, “Dino Cowboy” Clayton Phipps, Mark Eatman and Chad O'Connor, made such a discovery. Dubbed the ‘Montana Dueling Dinosaurs,’ this exciting find consists of two of the most complete dinosaur skeletons ever found in the Hell Creek Formation. They have been tentatively identified as Nanotyrannus lancensis (a tyrannosaurid related to T. rex) and an unidentified Chasmosaurine (a ceratopsian related to Triceratops). Peter Larson, President of Black Hills Institute of Geological Research (BHI), speculates the animals were engaged in a ‘to the death’ struggle, ultimately resulting in their demise.
What is amazing is that not only are the two skeletons virtually complete, they are both articulated and in such close proximity that they are touching. There is also enough evidence to suggest that they may have inflicted fatal injuries to each other. Nanotyrannus teeth, found within the carcass of the horned dinosaur, seem to point to time-of-death battle injuries. Other evidence, such as the lateral crushing of the Nanotyrannus skull and pectoral girdle, implies that the Chasmosaurine may have inflicted the fatal wounds that killed its attacker. To add to the excitement, it also appears that both the Chasmosaurine and the Nanotyrannus preserve skin in association with each skeleton!
What is amazing is that not only are the two skeletons virtually complete, they are both articulated and in such close proximity that they are touching. There is also enough evidence to suggest that they may have inflicted fatal injuries to each other. Nanotyrannus teeth, found within the carcass of the horned dinosaur, seem to point to time-of-death battle injuries. Other evidence, such as the lateral crushing of the Nanotyrannus skull and pectoral girdle, implies that the Chasmosaurine may have inflicted the fatal wounds that killed its attacker. To add to the excitement, it also appears that both the Chasmosaurine and the Nanotyrannus preserve skin in association with each skeleton!
