Evolution of Triceratops (the Ceratopsians)

[@lalehiandeity1649]

The Evolution of Grass would be interesting.

[@cameronhill688]

Y u wanna watch grass grow?

[@TheGreenKnight500]

It would be. It's actually pretty amazing just how recently a lot of our modern plants evolved.

[@alfredwaldo6079]

Yeah boy there is so little paleobotany content out there!

[@connorhaley3190]

Probably from sedges

[@Ballistics_Computer]

​@@cameronhill688beat me to it

[@NitroIndigo]

"The largest herbivores in the ecosystem would never be dinosaurs again." New Zealand: And I took that personally.

[@nebulan]

I was thinking of the moa, too, and also the elephant birds of Madagascar 😅

[@ekosubandie2094]

Don't forget the giant tortoises which are still around today They're pretty much the largest non-mammal native herbivores on their respective island ecosystems

[@ISeeYou.mp4]

@@ekosubandie2094tbf they also arent Dinosaurs

[@Itsjustme-Justme]

non avian dinosaurs

[@yissibiiyte]

It's amazing how many times dinosaurs evolved into quadrupeds from bipedal ancestors. Sauropods, ceratopsians, ornithopods, thyreophorans all started out being bipedal.

[@valivali8104]

Well, if animal is big and heavy, which big herbivores have to be thanks to bigger and more complex digestive track, they have to be quadrupeds.

[@GenghisDon1970]

and morons of the 22nd century still just call them reptiles even when they MUST know better

[@Thulgore]

I notice quite a few humans going this round too.........granted the quads they are on are mobility scooters. Well actually I'm the only 45 year old I know that doesn't own a car, never had a drivers license and walks everywhere...............hell I'm the only adult I know that does this without a court order.

[@AnthonyMorris-pg9xj]

​@@Thulgorewe are becoming a rare breed 😁

[@patreekotime4578]

​@@valivali8104Im not sure that is entirely true. Some research has suggested that Megatherium may have been bipedal. And many Ornithopods seem to have used four legs when feeding but probably still ran on two! The more likely case is that if you are large and your food is on the ground, having a lower body plan makes it easier to reach your food.

[@Valerio_the_wandering_sprite]

One thing that always amused me of late ceratopsids is how they repeatedly filled in the same niche of modern bovids. Large, stocky horned grass browsers living in herds? Definitely another case of convergent evolution.

[@MarcoAntonio-hw7si]

Herds? Correct me if i'm wrong, but ceratopsids were solitary

[@stormisuedonym4599]

@@MarcoAntonio-hw7si I don't think I've ever seen convincing evidence they didn't live in herds or at least small groups.

[@pocketmarcy6990]

@@MarcoAntonio-hw7sievidence of a Paticular species living in Groups is hard to come by

[@LimeyLassen]

It's really shocking when you see how big a Triceratops skull could get in context.

[@Rise876]

I studied Zoology at uni, years ago, and I've always been interested in absolutely every facet of natural history and life on earth. Your videos are outstanding! They're so well done, so interesting and enjoyable. Great work!

[@daniell1483]

Triceratops is probably my second favorite dinosaur. They just look so majestic, and powerful, like a tank on legs. It is interesting to learn that their family was also so successful, and comparing them as herbivores to others goes to show that there are lots of ways to get the job done.

[@Thulgore]

Beak combined with ever growing teeth. A parrot combined with a rat.......but the rodent ability was in the molars........I hate that I will never know how these animals actually were.

[@quangminhnguyen6541]

That tank also have ball joint in their neck. They can rotate their full-of-weapons head to extremely wide range.

[@TillyOrifice]

Plus big spiky horns.

[@anfunifr3nzy610]

Pachyrhinosaurus is my favorite, I like the thought of a ramming ceratopsian.

[@Gaarafan007]

I recently saw a video on Clint's Reptiles where he asked viewers what their favourite dinosaur was. Being obsessed with the creatures when I was younger, I thought the question would be easy, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't have a proper answer. The best I could to was to say that my favourite ceratopsian dinosaur is Styracosaurus. I'm always happy when the make even the briefest of appearances in video like these.

[@jasonotto9126]

Knew about them from Dino riders. Them and deinonycus were me favourites as a kid. Still today

[@strixalu]

I just wanted to correct you about that bit you said at 2:12 about all dinosaurs evolving from a therapod dinosaur in the Triassic period- I'm sure you probably meant therapod-like dinosaur but I thought I should clear that up for anyone confused in the comments

[@Paraves426]

Also *theropod

[@Gzeebo]

Very enjoyable and informative video. Fun fact: Chasmosaur is so named because its skull has two huge "chasms" i.e. holes in the frill.

[@joshuaW5621]

These evolution videos are always so fascinating.

[@maxicinea]

Oh boy I've been waiting for this one, never clicked so fast

[@victorcelmare]

Finally one step closer to finding out how they tasted like

[@cro-magnoncarol4017]

"Ornithischians the group that contains all herbivorous Dinosaurs that weren't Sauropods..." Therizinosaurs & Ornithomimosaurs: "Are we a joke to you..."

[@isaacbruner65]

I thought Ornithomimus was an omnivore

[@cro-magnoncarol4017]

@@isaacbruner65 Perhaps, in the same way a modern ostrich or emu is omnivorous. But none of that egg eating nonsense...

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

It was very likely mostly herbivorous. Though they were likely able to eat animals too and did it occasionally. Still herbivorous enough to count as a herbivorous dinosaur as far as herbivorous niches are concerned.@@isaacbruner65

[@rursus8354]

First Anaceratops, then Monoceratops, then Diceratops, and then comes Triceratops. Then comes Tetraceratops, Pentaceratops, Hexaceratops and Heptaceratops. Then Octaceratops and Nonaceratops, and finally Styracosaurus. UPDATE: Oh, I forgot Leptoceratops, then Baryceratops, then Microceratops and Macroceratops!

[@CarmenLC]

Onerioceratops when

[@thejdmguru621]

I’d love to see a video on the Evolution of Cycads. It would be interesting to see topics of genuses like Ctenis, Antarcticycas and Dioonopsis just to name a few.

[@thebushna]

I found this so fascinating. I've seen so much coverage in Paleontology media of creatures that are already famous, but not as much about how they evolved. I learned so much watching this video. Thank you!

[@lauravansanten7804]

Finally, an episode about triceratops! I've been waiting for this one for ages, thank you so much Mothlightmedia!

[@hughmongus6191]

Your video is the best thing to happen on my Black Friday.

[@maximeestevn5319]

Babe wake up new moth light media video is up

[@vamp97]

Another great video. I can’t believe you give us this kind of relaxing education for free!

[@Tsotha]

lots of small early ceratopsians, that looked nothing like later giants with horns and frills, I never heard of until now!

[@Sry_4_nothing]

I really like your Videos, your voice fits perfectly. Its calming and informatif.

[@schrotthandler1648]

Your videos are the last truly entertaining relaxing dinosaur content

[@isaach8289]

this video needs more love, great content as always

[@WildLand1895]

Dude, your content is awesome! I always, always love your videos! Question: at 2:30 mark...Ankylosaurs were actually that big? Edmontosaurus is the second largest hadrosaurid known to date, right? I thought Ankylosaurus was a bit shorter, or is that Edmontosaurus is shorter than i thought?

[@lucaskohn5457]

Would love to see more about the evolution of dinosaurs!!!

[@gattycroc8073]

fantastic video. Ceratopsians are awesome.

[@MatthewTheWanderer]

Ceratopsians are some of the coolest dinosaurs! Somehow, I had never heard of the tiny bipedal ones, though!

[@Littlekoji-df1cf]

He is back!

[@ThrowerTimothy]

The triceratops had a ball and socket joint in its neck!

[@Alec.40]

In 2019 I made a KZbin account to thank you for your videos.

[@dozhk]

I love your work! Keep it up. Is there any source to those paleomaps you use?

[@theoccidilian4896]

We can't assume a singular function for structures such as horns. Modern-day horned animals often use horns both for defense and male-male contests. An animal will use whatever weapons it has as need presents.

[@Thulgore]

So many things we don't know..........and as yet the sexual dimorphism of ceratopsians doesn't seem so extreme.......which leads to so many more questions about them.

[@piggymag1c]

well why do you think they developed those "weapons" in the first place? You are correct, most likely for a variety of uses, however the horns came from a need for them, not the other way around.

[@vinny184]

@@piggymag1c that’s an outdated view on evolution having an endpoint. Horns evolved gradually by selecting for individuals with bigger horns. The reason the ones with smaller horns not surviving or at least not reproducing isn’t really known.

[@SoulDelSol]

They're defense was to run away. They're battles for mates were locking horns. I think its safe to compare them to modern ungulates (deer, bovids, antelope). Horns also serve as radiators for cooling

[@piggymag1c]

@@vinny184 i agree evolution never stops and did not say otherwise. and surely bigger is not always better

[@MrHangman56]

these videos are so good and always make me sad that we evolved so late and missed out on seeing so many incredible creatures

[@SoulDelSol]

Not really though. We have some of the most amazing creatures ever today. We're just normalized to them, just as we would be to the dinos

[@Wolf-Chalk]

Oh wow, I'm early for once. I never thought about dinosaur evolution beyond birds before so this will be a fascinating watch 👀

[@abdulhossain8816]

Moth Light Media out with more W content.

[@gingazaurus]

Great video thank you for making it, Very interested👌🏻

[@lauropaiva8938]

Hi from Brazil

[@MichelZongo-q3r]

Amazing video guy

[@sergeipohkerova7211]

When I was a kid I drew Tyrannosaurus jousting with Triceratops and my triceratops was walking on its hind legs. My teacher told me ceratopsians would have never walked on theirhind legs. I can just picture her now if I told her about this video, smugly telling me that hind leg ceratopsians wouldn't be dueling Tyrannosaurus anyway because the era was wrong. Oh well. She's dead now so that kinda sucks. 🤷

[@TeagueChrystie]

This is fascinating. Great channel. Thanks so much.

[@shmuelparzal]

Ceratopsids are one of my favourite dinosaur groups, alongside Ankylosaurians and Stegosaurians

[@jaisanatanrashtra7035]

Finally Dinosaurs are back 😊💕 Hey 👋 Can you do a video on Birds and Reptiles that lived in Cenozoic Era

[@tyrannotherium7873]

Good thing that you pointed out that late ceratopsians did not have quills or feathers, only the ancestors did

[@RadicalCaveman]

Thanks very much for doing this video. It means a lot to me personally because my great grandmother was a triceratops.

[@supertrike5893]

It's great seeing the evolution of my favorite dinosaur

[@hyrumhanson3390]

I've wondered if any creatures of this family ever filled the niche of a beaver. Big head, powerful bite, stomach of steel. Possible paddle tail derived from elongated feather/scales upon the sides ofthe tail.

[@anastaswinn4630]

No, because no dinosaurs had heterodonty.

[@WAMTAT]

Absolutely fascinating

[@demos113]

Good work. 🙂👍

[@nestormentoso]

damn, i feel an urge to make a joke about Yinshort, the smaller cousin of Yinlong

[@cyankirkpatrick5194]

I am fascinated by the early north American primate's that died out, they've been finding fossils like crazy and now they're just getting to know them crazy.

[@SpeedDemon_Editzzz]

The Mighty Tri Horns🔥🔥🔥

[@connorflaherty175]

Eotriceratops is worth mentioning, being the largest ceratopsian dinosaur ever discovered.

[@herp_derpingson]

Science of horny dinosaurs. My favorite thing to watch while having morning coffee.

[@jaisanatanrashtra7035]

3:55 hey can you tell us how you make these Size Comparison Charts what tool/app you use..???

[@lloydmckay3241]

Life is so marvelous. Beyond quantification.

[@dimosthenistserikis5901]

Very interesting indeed

[@sauron6977]

Love your videos

[@vahlte]

What's that big "rat" at 03:08?

[@faolitaruna]

Check out "Walking With Dinosaurs Remake || Third Chapter : Clash Of Dynasties", it's independent documentary about parallel evolution of Ceratopsians and Tyrannosaurids.

[@yfrontsguy]

Brilliant as ever ! Have you ever doing plants too? We need someone as enthusiastic and rigourous as you to tackle plant evolution !!

[@obibraxton2232]

Please upload more videos more frequently when you can ! Love the content and I’m fascinated so much by prehistoric life be it dinosaur, reptile or mamal 🙌🏾

[@Kentuckyhunter58]

Great video

[@curiousuranus810]

Moth Light Media - more welcome today than Black Friday.

[@PhilipSalen]

One of the illustrations of the triceratops had flowering plants included at 56 second of the video; I do not believe that there were flowering plants at the time of the triceratops; please confirm Moth Light Media.

[@evilcow666]

There were flowering plants appeared in the mid cretacous while styracosaurus appeared in the late

[@tec-jones5445]

Flowering plants, angiosperms, evolved in the early Cretaceous, and became steadily more common through the period. By the late Cretaceous, they were quite diverse and common, comprising about half of all plant species (it would be after the extinction that they would absolutely dominate in diversity though).

[@theunholyadventurer2376]

First of all, that isn't a Triceratops, its a Styracosaurus. Secondly, flowering plants evolved early on in the Cretaceous and became very widespread moving on (this is what Moth Light Media said in the video as well). Both Triceratops and Styracosaurus evolved during the Cretaceous, making them co-exist with flowering plants.

[@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana]

I think you mean the vast majority of (very) large herbivorous dinosaurs evolved back into being quadrupedal. The smaller ones often stayed bipedal, especially among therapod species who were mostly herbivorous. Even some of the big herbivorous dinosaurs like hadrosaurs were facultative bipeds. Also, smaller animals tend to have more species and fossilise worse, so I would imagine taking all herbivorous non-avian dinosaurs into account would have them being mostly bipdeal, or at least it being close to 50/50. But the large herbivorous non-avian dinosaurs were likely mostly quadrupedal. Obviously even more bipedal herbivorous dinosaurs would be counted if you include the birds of the Mesozoic.

[@isaacbruner65]

Adding onto this, I know of at least one other group of herbivorous theropods as well, Therizinosaurs, and they were also bipedal.

[@vinny184]

It makes sense when you take into account the adaptations needed for being a massive herbivore. Like a big barrel gut, weight distribution etc.

[@PhilipMurphy8Extra]

This looks like a interesting topic

[@michaelharper8503]

The animal dinosaurs evolved from was "theropod like" but not an actual theropod.

[@Golem33]

I’d love a video covering the evolution of anseriform waterfowl.

[@caseyriggs6264]

My fave dinos list: 1. Carnotaurus 2. Quetzalcoatlus ("It's a reptile!" I KNOW! :) ) 3. Triceratops

[@apnosaurus]

wait wasn't kulinda a basal ceratopsian? or was it a basal marginocephalian? the one that was covered in feathers.

[@alskdjfhgqzwez6723]

Does anyone know where can i contact this guy? I have a question for him about his video on the large flightless birds. If anyone else is an expert on the subject, please let me know

[@BiTurbo228]

Man I utterly adore this channel, but please look up the pronunciation for these animals! It's 'kasmosaurs' not 'shazmosaurs' 👍

[@Epidombe]

Nice

[@dleddy14]

What is clade of animals with most it's species alive today that would be comparable in species size (estimated) to the Dinosauria clade during the lade Cretaceous?

[@Rangera-ct1xu]

the frill most likely was for muscle attachment. they would have needed these powerful muscles to be able to eat the tough fibrus plants.

[@JustAnotherRandomGuy-_-]

Judging the evolution of predatory hooved mammals I think there are also predatory ceratopsians as well.

[@BaldianOfIbelin]

There is also a theory that the Pachiselaphoraur had a horn made of keratin just like the Rhinos.

[@jamesstandsupfallsdown]

I would love to see a evolution of stegosaurs and ankylosaurs

[@michaelharper8503]

There are birds and a few other clades of theropods that were herbivorous.

[@heywodjablowme9796]

I would like to see an evolution of bacteria or fungi video similar to the evolution of virus one.

[@danielalexandre89]

Dinosaurs were so dominant and widespread yet now non exist Makes you wonder if same can happen to mamals or birds in the future

[@Dr.Ian-Plect]

They do exist, birds are dinosaurs.

[@GuardianSoulkeeper]

Didn't know birds were extinct.

[@hackusprime]

probably my favorite Dino..

[@pattonramming1988]

So have any ceratopsians been discovered outside of Asia or North America

[@widodoakrom3938]

Ceratopsians fossil completely abscent in gondwana

[@ariesostia126]

Yoooo! I cheered when I saw this title, and autoclicked

[@SilverScarletSpider]

7:20 not a fan of the use of the words “more primitive species” because if you were a sentient ceratopsian watching this youtube video on the infinite internet from the year 2312 i’d say under a certain point of view humans are the primitive species compared to mice

[@BoisegangGaming]

Psittacosaurus is so adorable i want one.

[@Shane_O.5158]

ch is pronounced K in latin, so it's not chasmosaur ( shazmosaur ) it is chasmosaur ( Kazmosaur )

[@derf2170]

The Y is silent and the O is a long O sound in Yinlong

[@_booth7992]

Cheese toastie meat ranking: 1. Roast beef -flavour doesn’t overpower the cheese -heats nicely as cheese melts -breaks apart with each bite so you don’t have to separate/rip with fingers 2. Turkey breast -slightly bland flavour -thicker satisfying chewing experience -best protein per gram 3. Sliced ham -most flavourful (outflavours the cheese) -Doesn’t break as you bite; meat is pulled from toastie unless you pinch bread together -Slightly too cold when bread and cheese are done

[@SoulDelSol]

They were in large herds which gave them safety in numbers. Occasionally a predator may get one in a hunt. Many times they wouldn't.

[@cro-magnoncarol4017]

Ah yes, my favorite Dinosaur family.

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

There was a theory at one time that the frill functioned as an anchor for massive jaw muscles so the animals could eat woody vegetation. The frill would have been mostly internal, encased in skin and muscle. What's the current status of this idea?

[@anyascelticcreations]

I just wrote an elaborate response to this that somehow got eaten by the algorithm before I was able to hit post. Basically, I agree. And I compared it to our own hyoid bone.

[@LimeyLassen]

The frill doubled the skull's length. That's a little excessive for a muscle attachment.

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

​@@anyascelticcreationsI'm sorry I didn't get to see your response!

[@valivali8104]

How could they turn their heads, especially nod their head up and down to get food and water?

[@b.a.erlebacher1139]

@@valivali8104 I don't know. Perhaps by relaxing the jaw muscles? A dinosaur jaw is organised differently than a mammalian jaw. At any rate, I'm curious about the current status of the theory.

[@ToniDostmann]

Who recognized the letters in the tree at 5:29 ?

[@pocketmarcy6990]

If only more Dinosaur fossils were as well preserved as Psittacosaurus

[@rustywenzlawe6287]

Another goddamn banger

[@lastEvergreen]

7:58: Me: “Over time the centrasaurs actually evolved to reduce or lose their brow horns.”

[@jorgerangel2390]

stegosaurus next dude!!!

[@deez1954]

*babe wake up‚mothlight media just dropped.*