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Triceratops

Triceratops (lit. 'three-horned face') is a genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 to 66 million years ago in what is now western North America. It was one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs and lived until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. The name Triceratops, which means 'three-horned face', is derived from the Greek words trí- meaning 'three', kéras  meaning 'horn', and ṓps  meaning 'face'.

Bearing a large bony frill, three horns on the skull, and a large, four-legged body, exhibiting convergent evolution with bovines and rhinoceroses, Triceratops is one of the most recognizable of all dinosaurs and the best-known ceratopsian. It was also one of the largest, measuring around 8 - 9 m long and weighing up to 6 - 10 MT. It shared the landscape with and was most likely preyed upon by Tyrannosaurus, though it is less certain that two adults would battle in the fanciful manner often depicted in museum displays and popular media. The functions of the frills and three distinctive facial horns on its head have inspired countless debates. Traditionally, these have been viewed as defensive weapons against predators. More recent interpretations find it probable that these features were primarily used in species identification, courtship, and dominance display, much like the antlers and horns of modern ungulates.

Triceratops was traditionally placed within the "short-frilled" ceratopsids, but modern cladistic studies show it to be a member of Chasmosaurinae, which usually have long frills. Two species, T. horridus and T. prorsus, are considered valid today. Seventeen different species, however, have been named throughout history. Research published in 2010 concluded that the contemporaneous Torosaurus, a ceratopsid long regarded as a separate genus, represents Triceratops in its mature form. This view has still been highly disputed and much more data is needed to settle this ongoing debate.

Triceratops has been documented by numerous remains collected since the genus was first described in 1889 by American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. Specimens representing life stages from hatchling to adult have been found. As the archetypal ceratopsian, Triceratops is one of the most beloved, popular dinosaurs and has been featured in numerous films, postage stamps, and many other types of media.

Discovery and identification
The first named fossil specimen now attributed to Triceratops is a pair of brow horns attached to a skull roof that were found by George Lyman Cannon near Denver, Colorado, in the spring of 1887. This specimen was sent to Othniel Charles Marsh, who believed that the formation from which it came from dated from the Pliocene and that the bones belonged to a particularly large and unusual bison, which he named Bison alticornis. He realized that there were horned dinosaurs by the next year, which saw his publication of the genus Ceratops from fragmentary remains, but he still believed B. alticornis to be a Pliocene mammal. It took a third and much more complete skull to fully change his mind.

Although not confidentially assignable, fossils possibly belonging to Triceratops were described as two taxa, Agathaumas sylvestris and Polyonax mortuarius, in 1872 and 1874, respectively, by Marsh's archrival Edward Drinker Cope. Agathaumas was named based on a pelvis, several vertebrae, and a few ribs collected by Fielding Bradford Meek and Henry Martyn Bannister near the Green River of southeastern Wyoming from layers coming from the Maastrichtian Lance Formation. Due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, it can only confidently be assigned to Ceratopsidae. Polyonax mortuarius was collected by Cope himself in 1873 from northeastern Colorado, possibly coming from the Maastrichtian Denver Formation. The fossils only consisted of fragmentary horn cores, 3 dorsal vertebrae, and fragmentary limb elements. Polyonax has the same issue as Agathaumas, with the fragmentary remains non-assignable beyond Ceratopsidae.

The Triceratops holotype, YPM 1820, was collected in 1888 from the Lance Formation of Wyoming by fossil hunter John Bell Hatcher, but Marsh initially described this specimen as another species of Ceratops. Cowboy Edmund B. Wilson had been startled by the sight of a monstrous skull poking out of the side of a ravine. He tried to recover it by throwing a lasso around one of the horns. When it broke off, the skull tumbling to the bottom of the cleft, Wilson brought the horn to his boss. His boss was rancher and avid fossil collector Charles Arthur Guernsey, who just so happened to show it to Hatcher. Marsh subsequently ordered Hatcher to locate and salvage the skull. The holotype was first named Ceratops horridus. When further preparation uncovered the third nose horn, Marsh changed his mind and gave the piece the new generic name Triceratops (lit. 'three horn face'), accepting his Bison alticornis as another species of Ceratops. It would, however, later be added to Triceratops. The sturdy nature of the animal's skull has ensured that many examples have been preserved as fossils, allowing variations between species and individuals to be studied. Triceratops remains have subsequently been found in Montana and South Dakota (and more in Colorado and Wyoming), as well as the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Species
After Triceratops was described, between 1889 and 1891, Hatcher collected another thirty-one of its skulls with great effort. The first species had been named T. horridus by Marsh. Its specific name was derived from the Latin word meaning "rough" or "rugose", perhaps referring to the type specimen's rough texture, later identified as an aged individual. The additional skulls varied to a lesser or greater degree from the original holotype. This variation is unsurprising, given that Triceratops skulls are large three-dimensional objects from individuals of different ages and both sexes that which were subjected to different amounts and directions of pressure during fossilization.

In the first attempt to understand the many species, Richard Swann Lull found two groups, although he did not say how he distinguished them. One group composed of T. horridus, T. prorsus, and T. brevicornus ('the short-horned'). The other composed of T. elatus and T. calicornis. Two species (T. serratus and T. flabellatus) stood apart from these groups. By 1933, alongside his revision of the landmark 1907 Hatcher–Marsh–Lull monograph of all known ceratopsians, he retained his two groups and two unaffiliated species, with a third lineage of T. obtusus and T. hatcheri ('Hatcher's') that was characterized by a very small nasal horn. ''T. horridus–T. prorsus–T. brevicornus'' was now thought to be the most conservative lineage, with an increase in skull size and a decrease in nasal horn size. ''T. elatus–T. calicornis'' was defined by having large brow horns and small nasal horns. Charles Mortram Sternberg made one modification by adding T. eurycephalus ('the wide-headed') and suggesting that it linked the second and third lineages closer together than they were to the T. horridus lineage. With time, the idea that the differing skulls might be representative of individual variation within one (or two) species gained popularity. In 1986, John Ostrom and Peter Wellnhofer published a paper in which they proposed that there was only one species, Triceratops horridus. Part of their rationale was that there are generally only one or two species of any large animal in a region. To their findings, Thomas Lehman added the old Lull–Sternberg lineages combined with maturity and sexual dimorphism, suggesting that the ''T. horridus–T. prorsus–T. brevicornus lineage was composed of females, the T. calicornis–T. elatus lineage was made up of males, and the T. obtusus–T. hatcheri'' lineage was of pathologic old males.

These findings were contested a few years later by paleontologist Catherine Forster, who reanalyzed Triceratops material more comprehensively and concluded that the remains fell into two species, T. horridus and T. prorsus, although the distinctive skull of T. ("Nedoceratops") hatcheri differed enough to warrant a separate genus. She found that T. horridus and several other species belonged together and that T. prorsus and T. brevicornus stood alone. Since there were many more specimens in the first group, she suggested that this meant the two groups were two species. It is still possible to interpret the differences as representing a single species with sexual dimorphism.

In 2009, John Scannella and Denver Fowler supported the separation of T. prorsus and T. horridus, noting that the two species are also separated stratigraphically within the Hell Creek Formation, indicating that they did not live together at the same time.

Valid species

 * T. horridus (Marsh, 1889) Marsh, 1889 (originally Ceratops) (type species)
 * T. prorsus Marsh, 1890

Synonyms and doubtful species
Some of the following species are synonyms, as indicated in parentheses ("=T. horridus" or "=T. prorsus"). All the others are each considered a nomen dubium (lit. 'dubious name') because they are based on remains too poor or incomplete to be distinguished from pre-existing Triceratops species.

 * T. albertensis C. M. Sternberg, 1949
 * T. alticornis (Marsh 1887) Hatcher, Marsh, and Lull, 1907 [originally Bison alticornis, Marsh 1887, and Ceratops alticornis, Marsh 1888]
 * T. brevicornus Hatcher, 1905 (=T. prorsus)
 * T. calicornis Marsh, 1898 (=T. horridus)
 * T. elatus Marsh, 1891 (=T. horridus)
 * T. eurycephalus Schlaikjer, 1935
 * T. flabellatus Marsh, 1889 (= Sterrholophus Marsh, 1891 ) (=T. horridus)
 * T. galeus Marsh, 1889
 * T. hatcheri (Hatcher & Lull 1905) Lull, 1933 (contentious; see Nedoceratops below)
 * T. ingens Marsh vide Lull, 1915
 * T. maximus Brown, 1933
 * T. mortuarius (Cope, 1874) Kuhn, 1936 (nomen dubium; originally Polyonax mortuarius)
 * T. obtusus Marsh, 1898 (=T. horridus)
 * T. serratus Marsh, 1890 (=T. horridus)
 * T. sulcatus Marsh, 1890
 * T. sylvestris (Cope, 1872) Kuhn, 1936 (nomen dubium; originally Agathaumas sylvestris)

Size
Triceratops was a very large animal, measuring around 8 - 9 m in length and weighing up to 6 - 10 MT. A specimen of T. horridus named Kelsey measured 22 - 24 ft long, has a 6.5 ft skull, stood about 7.5 ft tall, and was estimated by the Black Hills Institute to weigh approximately 5.4 MT.

Skull
Like all chasmosaurines, Triceratops had a large skull relative to its body size, among the largest of all land animals. The largest-known skull, specimen MWC 7584 (formerly BYU 12183), is estimated to have been 2.5 m in length when complete and could reach almost a third of the length of the entire animal.

The front of the head was equipped with a large beak in front of its teeth. The core of the top beak was formed by a special rostral bone. Behind it, the premaxillae bones were located, embayed from behind by very large, circular nostrils. In chasmosaurines, the premaxillae met on their midline in a complex bone plate, the rear edge of which was reinforced by the "narial strut". From the base of this strut, a triangular process jutted out into the nostril. Triceratops differs from most relatives in that this process was hollowed out on the outer side. Behind the toothless premaxilla, the maxilla bore thirty-six to forty tooth positions, in which three to five teeth per position were vertically stacked. The teeth were closely appressed, forming a "dental battery" curving to the inside. The skull bore a single horn on the snout above the nostrils. In Triceratops, the nose horn is sometimes recognisable as a separate ossification, the epinasal.

The skull also featured a pair of supraorbital "brow" horns approximately 1 m long, with one above each eye. The jugal bones pointed downward at the rear sides of the skull and were capped by separate epijugals. With Triceratops, these were not particularly large and sometimes touched the quadratojugals. The bones of the skull roof were fused and by a folding of the frontal bones, a "double" skull roof was created. In Triceratops, some specimens show a fontanelle, an opening in the upper roof layer. The cavity between the layers invaded the bone cores of the brow horns.

At the rear of the skull, the outer squamosal bones and the inner parietal bones grew into a relatively short, bony frill, adorned with epoccipitals in young specimens. These were low triangular processes on the frill edge, representing separate skin ossifications or osteoderms. Typically, with Triceratops specimens, there are two epoccipitals present on each parietal bone, with an additional central process on their border. Each squamosal bone had five processes. Most other ceratopsids had large parietal fenestrae, openings in their frills, but those of Triceratops were noticeably solid, unless the genus Torosaurus represents mature Triceratops individuals, which it most likely does not. Under the frill, at the rear of the skull, a huge occipital condyle, up to 106 mm in diameter, connected the head to the neck.

The lower jaws were elongated and met at their tips in a shared epidentary bone, the core of the toothless lower beak. In the dentary bone, the tooth battery curved to the outside to meet the battery of the upper jaw. At the rear of the lower jaw, the articular bone was exceptionally wide, matching the general width of the jaw joint. T. horridus can be distinguished from T. prorsus by having a shallower snout.

Postcranial skeleton
Chasmosaurines showed little variation in their postcranial skeleton. The skeleton of Triceratops is markedly robust. Both Triceratops species possessed a very sturdy build, with strong limbs, short hands with three hooves each, and short feet with four hooves each. The vertebral column consisted of ten neck, twelve back, ten sacral, and about forty-five tail vertebrae. The front neck vertebrae were fused into a syncervical. Traditionally, this was assumed to have incorporated the first three vertebrae, thus implying that the frontmost atlas was very large and sported a neural spine. Later interpretations revived an old hypothesis by John Bell Hatcher that, at the very front, a vestige of the real atlas can be observed, the syncervical then consisting of four vertebrae. The vertebral count mentioned is adjusted to this view. In Triceratops, the neural spines of the neck are constant in height and don't gradually slope upwards. Another peculiarity is that the neck ribs only begin to lengthen with the ninth cervical vertebra.

The rather short and high vertebrae of the back were, in its middle region, reinforced by ossified tendons running along the tops of the neural arches. The straight sacrum was long and adult individuals show a fusion of all sacral vertebrae. In Triceratops the first four and last two sacrals had transverse processes, connecting the vertebral column to the pelvis, that were fused at their distal ends. Sacrals seven and eight had longer processes, causing the sacrum to have an oval profile in top view. On top of the sacrum, a neural plate was present formed by a fusion of the neural spines of the second through fifth vertebrae. Triceratops had a large pelvis with a long ilium. The ischium was curved downwards. The foot was short with four functional toes. The phalangeal formula of the foot is 2-3-4-5-0.

Although certainly quadrupedal, the posture of horned dinosaurs has long been the subject of some debate. Originally, it was believed that the front legs of the animal had to be sprawling at a considerable angle from the thorax in order to better bear the weight of the head. This stance can be seen in paintings by Charles Knight and Rudolph Zallinger. Ichnological evidence in the form of trackways from horned dinosaurs and recent reconstructions of skeletons (both physical and digital) seem to show that Triceratops and other ceratopsids maintained an upright stance during normal locomotion, with the elbows flexed to behind and slightly bowed out, in an intermediate state between fully upright and fully sprawling, comparable to the modern rhinoceros.

The hands and forearms of Triceratops retained a fairly primitive structure when compared to other quadrupedal dinosaurs, such as thyreophorans and many sauropods. In those two groups, the forelimbs of quadrupedal species were usually rotated so that the hands faced forward with palms backward ("pronated") as the animals walked. Triceratops, like other ceratopsians and related quadrupedal ornithopods (together forming the Cerapoda), walked with most of their fingers pointing out and away from the body, the original condition for dinosaurs. This was also retained by bipedal forms, like theropods. In Triceratops, the weight of the body was carried by only the first three fingers of the hand, while digits 4 and 5 were vestigial and lacked claws or hooves. The phalangeal formula of the hand is 2-3-4-3-1, meaning that the first or innermost finger of the forelimb has two bones, the next has three, the next has four, etc.

Skin
Preserved skin from Triceratops is known. This skin consist of large scales, some of which exceed 100 mm across, which have conical projections rising from their center. A preserved piece of skin from the frill of a specimen is also known, which consists of small polygonal basement scales.

Classification
Triceratops is the best-known genus of Ceratopsidae, a family of large, mostly North American ceratopsians. The exact relationship of Triceratops among the other ceratopsids has been debated over the years. Confusion stemmed mainly from the combination of a short, solid frill (similar to that of Centrosaurinae), with long brow horns (more akin to Chasmosaurinae). In the first overview of ceratopsians, R. S. Lull hypothesized the existence of two lineages, one of Monoclonius and Centrosaurus leading to Triceratops, the other with Ceratops and Torosaurus, making Triceratops a centrosaurine as the group is understood today. Later revisions supported this view when Lawrence Lambe, in 1915, formally describing the first, short-frilled group as Centrosaurinae (including Triceratops), and the second, long-frilled group as Chasmosaurinae.

In 1949, Charles Mortram Sternberg was the first to question this position, proposing instead that Triceratops was more closely related to Arrhinoceratops and Chasmosaurus based on skull and horn features, making Triceratops a chasmosaurine ("ceratopsine" in his usage) genus. He was largely ignored, with John Ostrom and later David Norman placing Triceratops within the Centrosaurinae.

Subsequent discoveries and analyses, however, proved the correctness of Sternberg's view on the position of Triceratops, with Thomas Lehman defining both subfamilies in 1990 and diagnosing Triceratops as "ceratopsine" on the basis of several morphological features. Apart from the one feature of a shortened frill, Triceratops shares no derived traits with centrosaurines. Further research by Peter Dodson, including a 1990 cladistic analysis and a 1993 study using resistant-fit theta-rho analysis, or RFTRA (a morphometric technique which systematically measures similarities in skull shape), reinforces Triceratops' placement as a chasmosaurine.

The cladogram below follows Longrich (2014), who named a new species of Pentaceratops, and included nearly all species of chasmosaurine.

For many years after its discovery, the deeper evolutionary origins of Triceratops and its close relatives remained largely obscure. In 1922, the newly discovered Protoceratops was seen as its ancestor by Henry Fairfield Osborn, but many decades passed before additional findings came to light. Recent years have been fruitful for the discovery of several antecedents of Triceratops. Zuniceratops, the earliest-known ceratopsian with brow horns, was described in the late 1990s, and Yinlong, the first known Jurassic ceratopsian, was described in 2005.

These new finds have been vital in illustrating the origins of ceratopsians in general, suggesting an Asian origin in the Jurassic and the appearance of truly horned ceratopsians by the beginning of the Late Cretaceous in North America.

In phylogenetic taxonomy, the genus Triceratops has been used as a reference point in the definition of Dinosauria. Dinosaurs have been designated as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of Triceratops and modern birds. Furthermore, Ornithischia has been defined as those dinosaurs more closely related to Triceratops than to modern birds.

Paleobiology
Although Triceratops is commonly portrayed as a herding animal, there is currently little evidence to suggest that they lived in herds. While several other ceratopsians are known from bone beds preserving bones from two to hundreds or even thousands of individuals, there is currently only one documented bonebed dominated by Triceratops bones: a site in southeastern Montana with the remains of three juveniles. It may be significant that only juveniles were present. In 2012, a group of three Triceratops in relatively complete condition, each of varying sizes from a full-grown adult to a small juvenile, were found near Newcastle, Wyoming. The remains are currently under excavation by paleontologist Peter Larson and a team from the Black Hills Institute. It is believed that the animals were traveling as a family unit, but it remains unknown if the group consists of a mated pair and their offspring, or two females and a juvenile they were caring for. The remains also show signs of predation or scavenging from Tyrannosaurus, particularly on the largest specimen, with the bones of the front limbs showing breakage and puncture wounds from Tyrannosaurus teeth. In 2020, Illies and Fowler described the co-ossified distal caudal vertebrae of Triceratops. According to them, this pathology could have arisen after one Triceratops accidentally stepped on the tail of another member of the herd.

For many years, Triceratops finds were known only from solitary individuals. These remains are very common. For example, Bruce Erickson, a paleontologist of the Science Museum of Minnesota, has reported having seen 200 specimens of T. prorsus in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. Similarly, Barnum Brown claimed to have seen over 500 skulls in the field. Because Triceratops teeth, horn fragments, frill fragments, and other skull fragments are such abundant fossils in the Lancian faunal stage of the late Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous, 66 mya) of western North America, it is regarded as one of the dominant herbivores of the time, if not the most dominant. In 1986, Robert Bakker estimated it as making up five sixths of the large dinosaur fauna at the end of the Cretaceous. Unlike most animals, skull fossils are far more common than postcranial bones for Triceratops, suggesting that the skull had an unusually high preservation potential.

Analysis of the endocranial anatomy of Triceratops suggest its sense of smell was poor compared to that of other dinosaurs. Its ears were attuned to low frequency sounds, given the short cochlear lengths recorded in an analysis by Sakagami et al,. This same study also suggests that Triceratops held its head about 45 degrees to the ground, an angle which would showcase the horns and frill most effectively that simultaneously allowed the animal to take advantage of food through grazing. A 2022 study by Wiemann and colleagues of various dinosaur genera, including Triceratops, suggests that it had an ectothermic (cold blooded) or gigantothermic metabolism, on par with that of modern reptiles. This was uncovered using the spectroscopy of lipoxidation signals, which are byproducts of oxidative phosphorylation and correlate with metabolic rates. They suggested that such metabolisms may have been common for ornithischian dinosaurs in general, with the group evolving towards ectothermy from an ancestor with an endothermic (warm blooded) metabolism.

Dentition and diet
Triceratops were herbivorous and, because of their low slung head, their primary food was probably low growing vegetation, although they may have been able to knock down taller plants with their horns, beak, and sheer bulk. The jaws were tipped with a deep, narrow beak, believed to have been better at grasping and plucking than biting.

Triceratops teeth were arranged in groups called batteries, which contained 36 to 40 tooth columns in each side of each jaw and 3 to 5 stacked teeth per column, depending on the size of the animal. This gives a range of 432 to 800 teeth, of which only a fraction were in use at any given time (as tooth replacement was continuous throughout the life of the animal). They functioned by shearing in a vertical to near-vertical orientation. The great size and numerous teeth of Triceratops suggests that they ate large volumes of fibrous plant material. Some researchers suggest it ate palms and cycads and others suggest it ate ferns, which then grew in prairies.

Functions of the horns and frill
There has been much speculation over the functions of Triceratops' head adornments. The two main theories have revolved around use in combat and in courtship display, with the latter now thought to be the most likely primary function.

Early on, Lull postulated that the frills may have served as anchor points for the jaw muscles to aid chewing by allowing increased size and power for the muscles. This has been put forward by other authors over the years, but later studies do not find evidence of large muscle attachments on the frill bones.

Triceratops were long thought to have used their horns and frills in combat with large predators, such as Tyrannosaurus, the idea being discussed first by Charles H. Sternberg in 1917 and 70 years later by Robert Bakker. There is evidence that Tyrannosaurus did have aggressive head-on encounters with Triceratops, based on partially healed tyrannosaur tooth marks on a Triceratops brow horn and squamosal. The bitten horn is also broken, with new bone growth after the break. Which animal was the aggressor, however, is unknown. Paleontologist Peter Dodson estimates that, in a battle against a bull Tyrannosaurus, the Triceratops had the upper hand and would successfully defend itself by inflicting fatal wounds to the Tyrannosaurus using its sharp horns. Tyrannosaurus is also known to have fed on Triceratops, as shown by a heavily tooth-scored Triceratops ilium and sacrum.

In addition to combat with predators using its horns, Triceratops are popularly shown engaging each other in combat with horns locked. While studies show that such activity would be feasible, if unlike that of present-day horned animals, there is disagreement about whether they did so. Although pitting, holes, lesions, and other damage on Triceratops skulls (and the skulls of other ceratopsids) are often attributed to horn damage in combat, a 2006 study finds no evidence for horn thrust injuries causing these forms of damage (with there being no evidence of infection or healing). Instead, non-pathological bone resorption, or unknown bone diseases, are suggested as causes. A newer study compared incidence rates of skull lesions and periosteal reaction in Triceratops and Centrosaurus, showing that these were consistent with Triceratops using its horns in combat and the frill being adapted as a protective structure, while lower pathology rates in Centrosaurus may indicate visual use over physical use of cranial ornamentation or a form of combat focused on the body rather than the head. The frequency of injury was found to be 14% in Triceratops. The researchers also concluded that the damage found on the specimens in the study was often too localized to be caused by bone disease. Histological examination reveals that the frill of Triceratops is composed of fibrolamellar bone. This contains fibroblasts that play a critical role in wound healing and is capable of rapidly depositing bone during remodeling.

One skull was found with a hole in the jugal bone, apparently a puncture wound sustained while the animal was alive, as indicated by signs of healing. The hole has a diameter close to that of the distal end of a Triceratops horn. This and other apparent healed wounds in the skulls of ceratopsians has been cited as evidence of non-fatal intraspecific competition in these dinosaurs. Another specimen, referred to as "Big John", has a similar fenestra to the squamosal caused by what appears to be another Triceratops horn and the squamosal bone shows signs of significant healing, further vindicating the hypothesis that this ceratopsian used its horns for intra-specific combat.

The large frill also may have helped to increase body area to regulate body temperature. A similar theory has been proposed regarding the plates of Stegosaurus, although this use alone would not account for the bizarre and extravagant variation seen in different members of Ceratopsidae, which would rather support the sexual display theory.

The theory that frills functioned as a sexual display was first proposed by Davitashvili in 1961 and has gained increasing acceptance since. Evidence that visual display was important, either in courtship or other social behavior, can be seen in the ceratopsians differing markedly in their adornments, making each species highly distinctive. Also, modern living creatures with such displays of horns and adornments use them similarly. A 2006 study of the smallest Triceratops skull, ascertained to be a juvenile, shows the frill and horns developed at a very early age, predating sexual development and probably important for visual communication and species recognition in general. The use of the exaggerated structures to enable dinosaurs to recognize their own species has been questioned, as no such function exists for such structures in modern species.

Growth and ontogeny
In 2006, the first extensive ontogenetic study of Triceratops was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society. The study, by John R. Horner and Mark Goodwin, found that individuals of Triceratops could be divided into four general ontogenetic groups: babies, juveniles, subadults, and adults. With a total number of 28 skulls studied, the youngest was only 38 cm long. Ten of the 28 skulls could be placed in order in a growth series with one representing each age. Each of the four growth stages were found to have identifying features. Multiple ontogenetic trends were discovered, including the size reduction of the epoccipitals, development and reorientation of postorbital horns, and hollowing out of the horns.

Torosaurus as growth stage of Triceratops
Torosaurus is a ceratopsid genus first identified from a pair of skulls in 1891, two years after the identification of Triceratops by Othneil Charles Marsh. The genus Torosaurus resembles Triceratops in geological age, distribution, anatomy, and size, so it has been recognised as a close relative. Its distinguishing features are an elongated skull and the presence of two ovular fenestrae in the frill. Paleontologists investigating dinosaur ontogeny in Montana's Hell Creek Formation have recently presented evidence that the two represent a single genus.

John Scannella, in a paper presented in Bristol at the conference of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (September 25, 2009), reclassified Torosaurus as especially mature Triceratops individuals, perhaps representing a single sex. Horner, Scannella's mentor at Bozeman Campus, Montana State University, noted that ceratopsian skulls consist of metaplastic bone. A characteristic of metaplastic bone is that it lengthens and shortens over time, extending and resorbing to form new shapes. Significant variety is seen even in those skulls already identified as Triceratops, Horner said, "where the horn orientation is backwards in juveniles and forward in adults". Approximately 50% of all subadult Triceratops skulls have two thin areas in the frill that correspond with the placement of "holes" in Torosaurus skulls, suggesting that holes developed to offset the weight that would otherwise have been added as maturing Triceratops individuals grew longer frills. A paper describing these findings in detail was published in July 2010 by Scannella and Horner. It formally argues that Torosaurus and the similar contemporary Nedoceratops are synonymous with Triceratops.

The assertion has since ignited much debate. Andrew Farke had, in 2006, stressed that no systematic differences could be found between Torosaurus and Triceratops, apart from the frill. He nevertheless disputed Scannella's conclusion by arguing in 2011 that the proposed morphological changes required to "age" a Triceratops into a Torosaurus would be without precedent among ceratopsids. Such changes would include the growth of additional epoccipitals, reversion of bone texture from an adult to immature type and back to adult again, and growth of frill holes at a later stage than usual. A study by Nicholas Longrich and Daniel Field analyzed 35 specimens of both Triceratops and Torosaurus. The authors concluded that Triceratops individuals too old to be considered immature forms are represented in the fossil record, as are Torosaurus individuals too young to be considered fully mature adults. The synonymy of Triceratops and Torosaurus cannot be supported, they said, without more convincing intermediate forms than Scannella and Horner initially produced. Scannella's Triceratops specimen with a hole on its frill, they argued, could represent a diseased or malformed individual rather than a transitional stage between an immature Triceratops and mature Torosaurus form.

Other genera as growth stages of Triceratops
Opinion has varied on the validity of a separate genus for Nedoceratops. Scannella and Horner regarded it as an intermediate growth stage between Triceratops and Torosaurus. Farke, in his 2011 redescription of the only known skull, concluded that it was an aged individual of its own valid taxon, Nedoceratops hatcheri. Longrich and Fields also did not consider it a transition between Torosaurus and Triceratops, suggesting that the frill holes were pathological.

As described above, Scannella had argued in 2010 that Nedoceratops should be considered a synonym of Triceratops. Farke (2011) maintained that it represents a valid distinct genus. Longrich agreed with Scannella about Nedoceratops and made a further suggestion that the recently described Ojoceratops was likewise a synonym. The fossils, he argued, are indistinguishable from the Triceratops horridus specimens that were previously attributed to the defunct species Triceratops serratus.

Longrich observed that another newly described genus, Tatankaceratops, displayed a strange mix of characteristics already found in adult and juvenile Triceratops. Rather than representing a distinct genus, Tatankaceratops could as easily represent a dwarf Triceratops or a Triceratops individual with a developmental disorder that caused it to stop growing prematurely.

Paleoecology
Triceratops lived during the Late Cretaceous of western North America, its fossils coming from the Evanston Formation, Scollard Formation, Laramie Formation, Lance Formation, Denver Formation, and Hell Creek Formation. These fossil formations date back to the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, which has been dated to 66 ± 0.07 million years ago. Many animals and plants have been found in these formations, but mostly from the Lance Formation and Hell Creek Formation. Triceratops was one of the last ceratopsian genera to appear before the end of the Mesozoic. The related Torosaurus and more distantly related diminutive Leptoceratops were also present, though their remains have been rarely encountered.

Theropods from these formations include genera of dromaeosaurids, tyrannosaurids, ornithomimids, troodontids, avialans, and caenagnathids. Dromaeosaurids from the Hell Creek Formation are Acheroraptor and Dakotaraptor. Indeterminate dromaeosaurs are known from other fossil formations. Common teeth previously referred to Dromaeosaurus and Saurornitholestes were considered to be those of Acheroraptor. The tyrannosaurids from the formation are Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus, although the former is most likely a junior synonym of the latter. Among ornithomimids are the genera Struthiomimus and Ornithomimus. An undescribed animal named "Orcomimus" could be from the formation. Troodontids are only represented by Pectinodon and Paronychodon in the Hell Creek Formation with a possible species of Troodon from the Lance Formation. One species of unknown coelurosaur is known from teeth in the Hell Creek and similar formations by a single species, Richardoestesia. Only three oviraptorosaurs are from the Hell Creek Formation: Anzu, Leptorhynchos and a giant species of caenagnathid, very similar to Gigantoraptor, from South Dakota. However, only fossilized foot prints were discovered. The avialans known from the formation are Avisaurus, multiple species of Brodavis, and several other species of hesperornithoforms, as well as several species of true birds, including Cimolopteryx.

Ornithischians are abundant in the Scollard, Laramie, Lance, Denver, and Hell Creek Formation. The main groups of ornithischians are ankylosaurians, ornithopods, ceratopsians, and pachycephalosaurians. Three ankylosaurians are known: Ankylosaurus, Denversaurus, and possibly a species of Edmontonia or an undescribed genus. Multiple genera of ceratopsians are known from the formation other than Triceratops. These include the leptoceratopsid Leptoceratops and the chasmosaurine ceratopsids Torosaurus, Nedoceratops, and Tatankaceratops. Ornithopods are common in the Hell Creek Formation and are known from several species of the thescelosaurine Thescelosaurus and the hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus. Several pachycephalosaurians have been found in the Hell Creek Formation and in similar formations. Among them are the derived pachycephalosaurids Stygimoloch, Dracorex, Pachycephalosaurus, Sphaerotholus, and an undescribed specimen from North Dakota. The first two might be junior synonyms of Pachycephalosaurus.

Mammals are plentiful in the Hell Creek Formation. Groups represented include multituberculates, metatherians, and eutherians. The multituberculates represented include Paracimexomys, the cimolomyids Paressonodon, Meniscoessus, Essonodon, Cimolomys, Cimolodon, and Cimexomys, and the neoplagiaulacids Mesodma and Neoplagiaulax. The metatherians are represented by the alphadontids Alphadon, Protalphodon, and Turgidodon, the pediomyids Pediomys, Protolambda, and Leptalestes, the stagodontid Didelphodon, the deltatheridiid Nanocuris, the herpetotheriid Nortedelphys, and the glasbiid Glasbius. A few eutherians are known, being represented by Alostera, Protungulatum, the cimolestids Cimolestes and Batodon, the gypsonictopsid Gypsonictops, and the possible nyctitheriid Paranyctoides.

Cultural significance

Triceratops is the official state fossil of South Dakota. It is also the official state dinosaur of Wyoming. In 1942, Charles R. Knight painted a mural incorporating a confrontation between a Tyrannosaurus and a Triceratops in the Field Museum of Natural History for the National Geographic Society, establishing them as enemies in the popular imagination. Paleontologist Robert Bakker said of the imagined rivalry between Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, "No matchup between predator and prey has ever been more dramatic. It's somehow fitting that those two massive antagonists lived out their co-evolutionary belligerence through the last days of the last epoch of the Age of Dinosaurs."

title: Triceratops


text:
Unicycle

A unicycle is a vehicle that touches the ground with only one wheel. The most common variation has a frame with a saddle, and has a pedal-driven direct-drive. A two speed hub is commercially available for faster unicycling. Unicycling is practiced professionally in circuses, by street performers, in festivals, and as a hobby. Unicycles have also been used to create new sports such as unicycle hockey. In recent years, unicycles have also been used in mountain unicycling, an activity similar to mountain biking or trials.

History
US patents for single-wheeled 'velocipedes' were published in 1869 by Frederick Myers and in 1881 by Battista Scuri.

Unicycle design has developed since the Penny Farthing and later the advent of the first unicycle into many variations including: the seatless unicycle ("ultimate wheel") and the tall ("giraffe") unicycle. During the late 1980s some extreme sportsmen took an interest in the unicycle and modified unicycles to enable them to engage in off-road or mountain unicycling, trials unicycling and street unicycling.

Unicycles compared to other pedal powered vehicles
Bicycles, tricycles and quadracycles share (with minor variations) several basic parts including wheels, pedals, cranks, forks, and the saddle with unicycles. Without a rider, unicycles lack stability – however, a proficient unicyclist is usually more stable than a similarly proficient rider on a bicycle as the wheel is not constrained by the linear axis of a frame. Unicycles usually, but not always, lack brakes, gears, and the ability to freewheel. Given these differences, the injuries that can occur from unicycle use tend to be different from that of bicycle use. In particular, head injuries are significantly less likely among unicycle use compared to bicycle use.

Construction
Unicycles have a few key parts:

 * The wheel (which includes the tire, tube, rim, spokes, hub and axle)
 * The cranks (which attach the pedals to the wheel hub)
 * The hub (connects the spokes to a central point and also transfers pedaling power to the wheel)
 * Pedals
 * Fork-style frame
 * Seatpost
 * Saddle (the seat of the unicycle)

The wheel is usually similar to a bicycle wheel with a special hub designed so the axle is a fixed part of the hub. This means the rotation of the cranks directly controls the rotation of the wheel (called direct-drive). The frame sits on top of the axle bearings, while the cranks attach to the ends of the axle, and the seatpost slides into the frame to allow the saddle to be height adjusted.

Types of unicycles

Types of unicycle include:

 * Freestyle unicycles
 * Trials unicycles
 * Mountain unicycles (also called Munis)
 * Giraffe unicycles
 * Commuter unicycles
 * Street unicycles
 * Cruiser unicycles
 * Road unicycles

Each type has many combinations of frame strength, wheel diameter, and crank length.

Freestyle unicycles
Generally used for flatland skills and freestyle routines, freestyle unicycles typically have a relatively high seatpost, a narrow saddle, and a squared fork (used for one-footed tricks). These unicycles are used similarly to flatland bicycles. Wheel size is usually 20 in, but smaller riders may use 16 or unicycles. Some people prefer 24 in wheels. Many freestyle unicyclists will use white tires to avoid tire marks when riding indoors.

Trials unicycles
Designed for unicycle trials, these unicycles are stronger than standard unicycles in order to withstand the stresses caused by jumping, dropping, and supporting the weight of the unicycle and rider on components such as the pedals and cranks. Many trials unicycles also have wide, 19 or knobby tires to absorb some of the impact on drops.

Mountain unicycles ("Munis")

Mountain unicycling (abbreviated to muni or mUni) consists of riding specialized unicycles on mountain bike trails or otherwise off-roading. Mountain unicycles have thicker, wider tires for better traction. Riders may occasionally lower air pressure for increased shock absorption. Many riders choose to use long cranks to increase power when riding up hills and over rough terrain. A disc brake is sometimes used for descents; the brake handle is attached to the underside of the handle on the front of the saddle.

Touring/commuter unicycles
Used for long distances, these unicycles are specially made to cover distances. They have a large wheel diameter, between 26 and 36 in, so more distance is covered in less pedal rotation. A 36″ unicycle made by the Coker Tire company started the big wheel trend. Some variations on the traditional touring unicycle include the Schlumpf "GUni" (geared unicycle), which uses a two-speed internal fixed-geared hub. Larger direct-drive wheels tend to have shorter cranks to allow for easier cadence and more speed. Geared wheels, with an effective diameter larger than the wheel itself, tend to use longer cranks to increase torque as they are not required to achieve such high cadences as direct-drive wheels, but demand greater force per pedal stroke.

Other variations

 * Giraffe, a chain-driven unicycle. Use of a chain or multiple wheels in a gear-like configuration can make the unicycle much taller than standard unicycles (note that multi-wheel unicycles can be described as giraffes). Standard unicycles don't have a chain, which limits the seat height based on how long the rider's legs are, because there the crank is attached directly to the wheel axle. Giraffe unicycles can range in heights from 3 ft to over 10 ft high.
 * Geared unicycle, or GUni, a unicycle whose wheel rotates faster than the pedal cadence. They are used for distance riding and racing.
 * Multi-wheeled unicycle, a unicycle with more than one wheel, stacked on top of each other so that only one wheel touches the ground (nicknamed stacks). The wheels are linked together by chains or direct contact with each other. These unicycles can also be called giraffes.
 * Kangaroo unicycle, a unicycle that has both the cranks facing in the same direction. They are so named due to the hopping motion of the rider's legs, supposedly resembling the jumping of a kangaroo.
 * Eccentric unicycle, a unicycle that has the hub off-center in the wheel. Putting an eccentric wheel on a kangaroo unicycle can make riding easier, and the rider's motion appear more kangaroo-like.
 * Ultimate wheel, a unicycle with no frame or seat, just a wheel and pedals.
 * Impossible wheel, or BC wheel, a wheel with pegs or metal plates connected to the axle for the rider to stand on. These wheels are for coasting and jumping. A purist form of unicycle, without cranks.
 * Monocycle, or monowheel, a large wheel inside which the rider sits (as in a hamster wheel), either motorized or pedal-powered. The greater gyroscopic properties and lower center of mass make it easier to balance than a normal unicycle but less maneuverable.
 * Self-balancing unicycle or electric unicycle, a computer-controlled, motor-driven, self-balancing unicycle.
 * Freewheeling unicycle, a unicycle in which the hub has a freewheel mechanism, allowing the rider, to coast or move forward without pedaling, as a common bicycle does. These unicycles almost always have brakes because they cannot stop the way traditional unicycles do. The brake lever is generally mounted in the bottom of the saddle. These unicycles also cannot go backwards.
 * Tandem
 * Recumbent
 * Hydraulic giraffe that can change in height while being ridden

Training aids
Training aids are sometimes used to make it easier to become comfortable with riding a unicycle. One method for training is using a spotter to make riding easier. Another method is finding a narrow hallway that can be used to help alleviate left and right balancing while allowing a beginner to focus on forward and backward balance. Equally, riding back and forth between two chairs, faced back to back, while holding on to the chair backs allows the user to gauge how to appropriately position oneself before setting off. Using props such as sticks or ski poles is generally discouraged as they hinder balance and create dependence. A fall onto props could also cause serious injury.

Riding styles

Traditionally, unicycling has been seen as a circus skill which has been performed at events to entertain the public in the circus or during parades, carnivals or street festivals. Recent developments in the strength and durability of bicycle (and consequently unicycle) parts have given rise to many new activities including trials unicycling and mountain unicycling. Unicycling is arguably now as much a competitive sport and recreational pursuit as an entertainment activity.

The principal types of unicycling are:

 * Freestyle: Perhaps the oldest form of unicycling, traditional freestyle riding is based on performance. Freestyle tricks and moves are derived from different ways of riding the unicycle, and linking these moves together into one long flowing line that is aesthetically pleasing. Competitions look very similar to figure skating, with riders performing routines to music.

 * Comedy: Along with freestyle it is a performance style of unicycling. Often employed by clowns and other circus skills performers. Comedy unicycling exaggerates the perceived difficulty of riding a unicycle to create a comedic performance.

 * Trials unicycling: Trials unicycling is specifically aimed at negotiating obstacles. Analogous to trials bike riding.

 * Street unicycling: Street unicycling as a style involves riders using a combination of objects found in urbanized settings (such as ledges, handrails, and stairs) to perform a wide variety of tricks. Many tricks are similar to those performed in other extreme sports, such as BMX and skateboarding.

 * Off-road or mountain unicycling (abbreviated to 'MUni'): Muni is riding on rough terrain and has developed as a form of unicycling in recent years.

 * Touring or commuting: This style concentrates on distance riding. With a 29 or wheel cruising speeds of 10 to 15 mph or more can easily be reached.

 * Flatland unicycling: This style of unicycling is similar to freestyle in that various tricks and movements are performed on flat ground. Flatland, however, does not have the performance element of freestyle, but instead has tricks that are similar to those in BMX and skateboarding.

Unicycle team sports
Unicycling is also performed as a team sport.

Unicycle basketball
Unicycle basketball uses a regulation basketball on a regular basketball court with the same rules, e.g., one must dribble the ball while riding. There are a number of rules that are particular to unicycle basketball as well, e.g., a player must be mounted on the unicycle when in-bounding the ball. Unicycle basketball is usually played using 24 in or smaller unicycles, and using plastic pedals, both to preserve the court and the players' shins. In North America, regular unicycle basketball games are organized in Berkeley, San Luis Obispo, Detroit, Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Toronto. Switzerland, France, Germany and Puerto Rico are all field teams. The Puerto Rico All Star Unicycling Basketball Team has been one of the dominant teams and has won several world championships.

Unicycle hockey
Unicycle hockey follows rules basically similar to rink hockey, using a tennis ball and ice-hockey sticks. Play is mostly non-contact. The sport has active leagues in Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the UK and international tournaments held at least bi-annually. Tournaments in the UK are held by various teams across the country usually in sports halls, but occasionally outside. Each tournament lasts a day and around 8 teams normally compete in a round-robin league with the winner being whoever has the most points. If two teams have the same number of points the winner can be decided by goal difference or a penalty shoot-out.

Individuals

 * Kris Holm and George Peck, pioneers in mountain unicycling
 * Rudy Horn, a German juggler
 * Ernest Montego, a German juggler
 * Jiang Yan Jing, Chinese acrobat
 * Ted Jorgensen, circus unicyclist, president of the Albuquerque Unicycle Club
 * Michael Goudeau, an American juggler
 * Skeeter Reece, an American clown
 * Amy Shields, an American freestyle unicyclist
 * Dustin Kelm, worldwide variety unicycle performer
 * "Wobbling" Wally Watts, round the world unicyclist, April 1976 to October 1978
 * Ed Pratt, round the world unicyclist, March 2015 to July 2018
 * Mike Taylor, World Champion in Unicycle High Jump in 2014, 2016 & 2018

Groups

 * Albuquerque Unicycle Club world's first unicycle hockey club
 * The King Charles Troupe, the first African American circus troupe, and one of the longest running acts in Ringling Bros history

Known in other fields

 * Adam Carolla, American comedian and actor
 * Rupert Grint, actor who played Ronald Weasley in the Harry Potter films
 * Mark Ruffalo, actor
 * Mika Häkkinen, Formula One racing driver
 * Lewis Hamilton, Formula One racing driver
 * Eddie Izzard, comedian and actor
 * Leslie Mann, American actress who performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
 * Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay
 * Demetri Martin, American comedian and actor
 * Ulrich Mühe, late German actor, best known for his role in The Lives of Others
 * Michael Nesmith, former guitarist of The Monkees
 * Miles Plumlee, American professional basketball player
 * Nico Rosberg, Formula One racing driver
 * Donald Rumsfeld, former United States Secretary of Defense
 * Claude Shannon, founder of information theory
 * Take That members Mark Owen, Jason Orange, and Howard Donald unicycled for the circus-based video for their song "Said It All"
 * Andrew Tosh, son of Peter and also a Jamaican reggae musician
 * Peter Tosh: Jamaican reggae musician from The Wailers
 * Steve Young, former National Football League quarterback
 * Ilya Zhitomirskiy: Russian-American software developer and entrepreneur

UNICON and regional championships

UNICON, Eurocycle and APUC are regular international unicycling conventions.

The biennial UNICON (International Unicycling Convention), sanctioned by the International Unicycling Federation, comprises all major unicycling disciplines and is a major event on the international unicycling calendar. Events include: artistic (group, pairs, individual, standard skill, open-X), track racing (100 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 30 metres walk the wheel, 50 metres one-foot), 10 kilometres, marathon (42.195 km), muni (cross-country, uphill, downhill, North Shore downhill), trials, basketball and hockey.

The Eurocycle (EUROpean uniCYCLE meeting) is a similar convention but based in Europe.

APUC, the Asia Pacific Unicycle Championships, are held biannually, alternately with Unicon. The first APUC, in 2007, was in Singapore. Subsequently, the event has been held in Hong Kong (2009), Seoul (2011), Canberra (2013), and Singapore (2015).

EUC, the Extreme Unicycle Championship, is the convention for urban unicycling (Street, Trials and Flatland). The event is held in two editions: summer and winter. Winter EUC is usually held at Cologne, Germany, while locations of the summer edition vary.

Races
The world's first multi-stage unicycle race, Ride the Lobster, took place in Nova Scotia in June 2008. Some 35 teams from 14 countries competed over a total distance of 800 km. Each team consisted of a maximum of 3 riders and 1 support person.

Unicross, or unicycle cyclocross is an emerging race format in which unicycles race over a cyclocross course.

Manufacturers
Unicycle makers include:
 * Coker
 * Impact Unicycles
 * Kris Holm Unicycles
 * Mad4One
 * Miyata
 * Nimbus Unicycles
 * Torker (formerly)
 * Unicycle.com
 * Schwinn
 * Qu-Ax

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Unicycle


text:
Talk:Alemanni

Language
Removed the following:

The Alamannic and Swabian dialects are now spoken in German-speaking Switzerland, the southern parts of Baden and Alsace, Württemberg and a small portion of Bavaria.

because I really don't think it's true -- yes, there is a dialect called Schwäbisch, but since German itself has gone through many changes in the last 1500 or so years, I think the dialect gets it's name from the region -- not that it's the dialect spoken by the actual Suebi -- would a linguist correct me if I'm wrong? JHK, Friday, May 31, 2002

Linguists call several German dialects "Alemannic". There's High Alemannic, Low Alemannic, Upper Rhine Alemannic etc. Obviously they are not and cannot be identical to the language of the antique Alemanni. On the other hand they evolved out of that ancient speech, and it's striking how the geographical extent of modern Alemannic dialects matches the ancient distribution of the Alemanni. The borders that seperate them from Bavarian and Franconian dialects match the ancient borders. And that's not just because the local dialects are named after the ancient peoples there - several isoglosses separate them too. I would add that even though there are also striking commonalities between Austro-Bavarian and Alemannic dialects in grammar and lexicon, there is a peculiar difference in their sound that cannot be ignored.

Inverse copyright violation
Inverse copyrigth violation! This article is integraly copied to. -- Looxix 23:02, 7 Sep 2003 (UTC)

 * I have listed it at Sites that use Wikipedia for content/temp. Angela
 * Thanks, I didn't know about this page (I don't really frequent en: anymore/for the moment). -- Looxix

 * The text in question was directly from a 1911 Encyclopedia. Not really eligible for follow up.  Bastique ▼ parler voir 22:09, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Queries

 * Who is quoting a lost work by Asinius Quadratus for this fanciful etymology? Why is it in the opening?
 * On January 2, 366 the Alamanni crossed the frozen Rhine... Is this an error for the famous crossing of 406?
 * There also has been a Rhine crossing in 378 by the Lentienses an Alamannic tribe - are this crossings related to the 278? Bullenwächter 14:59, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

According to, Lactantius is.
 * He also reports on a book called "Germany" written by Asinius Quadratus which Ortelius deplores not to possess (Ort199,200).

dab (ᛏ) 16:35, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

"Alamanni" simply an exonym of Suevi warbands
Notes assembled from the papers of Nicolas Fréret by an anonymous contributor were published in Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, avec les Mémoires de Littérature tirés des Registres de cette Académie, depuis l'année MDCCXLIV jusques et compris l'année MDCCXLVI, vol. XVIII, À Paris, de l'Imprimérie Royale, 1753, pp.49-71. I found excerpts at http://www.eliohs.unifi.it/testi/700/freret/vues.html#notaed Among Fréret's observations on the difficulties that face the historian of the Germanic tribes (still highly a propos) is the following, concerning Alamanni:
 * "Ce nom qui signifioit, selon Asinius Quadratus, cité par Agathias, un mélange d'hommes rassemblés de divers pays, n'a jamais été employé que par les étrangers, c'est-à-dire, par les écrivains Latins & par ceux de la Gaule & de l'Espagne, qui l'ont même étendu à tous les peuples de la Germanie. Valafrid Strabon, moine de saint Gal, qui écrivoit sous Louis le Débonnaire dans le neuvième siècle, observe, en parlant des habitans de la Suisse & de ceux des pays voisins, que les étrangers seuls les nomment Alamanni, mais qu'eux mêmes se donnoient le nom de Suevi." Quite a different spin! --Wetman 17:56, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

 * by all means include! dab (ᛏ) 18:18, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

 * Yes and no. The statement applies more to the later Alemanni when the term expanded and was used of all the Suebi rather than to the initial Alamanni. Initially the only etrangers to use the name were the Romans and why should they select a Germanic name?Dave 11:27, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Our personal doubts might not be strong enough to preclude mentioning Nicolas Fréret's conclusions and the historic usages on which he based them, even if they don't suit us. Walafrid Strabo might not ordinarily count as a "Roman". I've added the report, without commentary. --Wetman 11:49, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Distracting blank spaces
Formatting that encases the framed table of contents in text, in just the way a framed map or image is enclosed within the text, is now available: in the HTML does the job.

Blank space opposite the ToC, besides being unsightly and distracting, suggests that there is a major break in the continuity of the text, which may not be the case. Blanks in page layout are voids and they have meanings to the experienced reader. The space betweeen paragraphs marks a brief pause between separate blocks of thought. A deeper space, in a well-printed text, signifies a more complete shift in thought: note the spaces that separate sub-headings in Wikipedia articles.

A handful of thoughtless and aggressive Wikipedians revert the "TOCleft" format at will. A particularly aggressive de-formatter is User:Ed g2s

The reader may want to compare versions at the Page history. --Wetman 20:30, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Suevi
The formulation "From the 4th century onwards we hear also of the Suevi, Suebi, or Suabi" is misleading, as the Suevi were already mentioned by Caesar - see Suebi Albrecht Conz 23:16, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Good call. Is is better now? --Wetman 23:38, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

"similar to the Huns"
I wonder whether the social ordering into war-bands is sufficient to warrant this "similarity", when our general struggle is to distinguish one group from another. A little further explanation of the similarity might forestall rash conclusions by readers. Just a thought. --Wetman 02:13, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
 * yes, sorry, never mind. I was gesturing at the misconception that the Huns and/or the Alamanni were a "race", but that would need more elaboration. dab (ᛏ) 07:07, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

...plus not all warbands are comparable, from Tacitus to Mogadishu... ;) --Wetman 07:09, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

hey, it was the 5th century. everybody thought it was cool to team up in bands and travel across Europe, pillaging and plundering. The Huns and the Alamanni were just two different teams in the same game :) dab (ᛏ) 07:41, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

Armalausi
Hello Friends! Does anybody have any informations about the Armalausi mentioned in the main article? Is there any reference or source available for this name? I wasn't able to find this Armalausi in My German literature. --Bullenwächter 20:17, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
 * good question. I don't think anybody knows more than just ubi nunc Palatinatus superior. Ibi antea Narisci erant, Brietiô teste. ; here is a (sadly unsourced) claim that they belong with the Hermunduri. dab (ᛏ) 20:54, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I would prefer to cancle the Armalausi in the article as there are no secure references and sources available. Or we may mark the Armalausi accordingly. --Bullenwächter 16:35, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

It appears the source is the Tabula Peutingeriana; let me verify that and I'll write a quick stub. dab (ᛏ) 16:51, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

 * found them! look in the top right corner here: -- there must be some other source, but that's one at least, so I'll begin the stub. dab (ᛏ) 17:05, 7 December 2005 (UTC)
 * : It's not quite legible, but I think they maybe in the upper right corner of Raetia here (this may be the "teste Brietio" reference) dab (ᛏ) 17:51, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

Hmm! The Tabula Peutingeriana doesn't appear as a reliable source for these matters, due to the fact that it is a 12th cent. copy of an intermediate carolingian copy (and probably a few others). 1° It contains a lot of misreadings -- such as 'RERVIGES' for 'Remiges'; 2° It contains a lot of misplacings -- such as the PARISII lying next to 'Atuaca' = Tongeren, Belgium; 3° It contains a lot of anachronisms, due to medieval interpolations -- such as 'MUSULAMIORUM' (the Muslims) in Numidia. If these 'Armalausi' do not appear elsewhere, better forget them, or try to find what they may stand for. Henskridonier

Formation of Alamanni
This part of the article is pretty confused, but it isn't just this article. All the several "encyclopedias" on the Internet that have copied from it at various stages are in a similar condition. In a way this process duplicates scribal copying except that scribal copyists were more careful than Internet scribalists.

For example, the "tribes" listed were Celtic cantons of Alsace taken over by the already existing Alamanni. But this is only one of many hasty misconceptions. I reorganized it a little and rewrote the language section. Now I'm going to rewrite some of the other sections (unless someone does it first) but this will have to be a gradual process. Most of the sources can be read on the Internet. It might be a good idea to put links to them, but the research has to be done, Internet or elsewhere. The sources need to be cited.

The history as I see can can roughly be divided into first appearance as being pacified by Caracalla, overrunning Germania Superior to form the initial Alsace and parts of Bavaria, moving into Switzerland, duking it out with the last of the western emperors, coming under the Franks, being Alemannia under the Holy Roman Empire and more. The last thing in the world anyone should think of is copying from the Internet. Someone has to do some research here. Everyone can't just be copying.Dave 11:23, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Bachman comments
Oh, hello, Bachman. I thought I might attract your attention. You've been my Vergil right from the start and you're strong in Germany and linguistics. That's fine. I don't mind your Baching. If you don't mind I'd rather keep it public than on the personal pages where things get personal.

Bottom line. I think your overlook is good. Your retort about the confusion is fair. The article is still confused however but less so. The region is historically important is it not? The Germanics in that region are not negligible at any period (Let's not call them Huns, or the other Germans either).

Picture of Main Valley. My intent was to show the region from which the Alemanni came. What's wrong with that? I'm flexible though. Don't you think we need a top picture? Have you (or anyone) got a picture for us there? I looked for one pretty hard. You with more experience can do better I am sure.

Language. Grimm's Law. Well, I like what you have. The problem was, it wasn't there before. I'm not going to argue the 2nd Grimm shift with you. It seemed to me that the language of the Alemanni should be covered. It looks as though you covered it. If you can think of anything else pertinent please do add some more. There is still plenty of space.

Etymology under formation? OK. I can see it.

Mannus. Well, why did the Alemanni choose Manni? Why not alleleute or alledeutsch or allefolk or some such thing? Mannus is their own personal word. They are the men. So are we for that matter. That was how I thought. But, it isn't essential to the article. Leave it out if you want.

Future. I am going to be working this article over. I don't need to invite you to join me. I know you will. I'm sure it will be better for it. If anyone else cares to join in you can give us some competition here. See you next round (soon}.Dave 22:55, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * how now Dave, I don't know if I am parsing this right, but you seem to be a man of succinctness and sarcasm. Mannus doesn't enter into it, Alamanni just prosaically means "all men". To connect this with mythical Mannus would be like saying the term "Scotsman" implies Mannus as mythical ancestor of the Scots. Regarding images, I am fond of maps, and drawing them, and the article will certainly also bear an image or two of the landscape (I didn't remove the Bodensee image you'll note), but they should preferably be historical maps, showing the Roman limes, settlements, and ideally arrows and things to document the progress of the Alamanni. And what we really need here are snapshots of Alamannic artefacts from museums (weaponry, maybe a snapshot of the Pforzen buckle, fibulae etc.), I am sure we can find some such images. dab (ᛏ) 15:15, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

image suggestions
a solidus of Constantinus I celebrating the victory over the Alamanni, reading Alemannia, gaudia Romanorum.

archaeological finds. No references on the page, and there will be copyright issues, but some photographs seem quite old and possibly fair use. stamps are fair use. here is a 1974 Swiss postage stamp featuring an Alemannic brooch.

here are a few maps, to be redrawn.

very nice image, low resolution, possibly fair use?

other suggestions? dab (ᛏ) 15:26, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm working on a map now; this is it so far. I plan to add the limes, various locations and battles. Maybe the area shown should be larger to allow marking of the invasions to Italy? dab (ᛏ) 20:56, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

The names
Thanks brothers. What a response! The Internet had been fairly inaccurate, you know. They've got the hordes of barbarian Alamanni like those of the Huns sweeping across the limes from southern Germany to overwhelm the brave and civilized Roman defenders of virtue and plunder the dickens out of Europe in the year 210 BC. All we needed were the hammers and the horns of the helmet. Not very useful to researchers of any level from grade school to college.

One of my main concerns was to get the timing and the names right, as that is the start of any historicity. You can paint any picture but if the names and dates are wrong it can't be relied on as veritude even if verisimilar. Names you know change a great deal and so do populations. What I wanted to do and still want to do is connect the names to the eras to which they belong. One can still state that a name probably descends from earlier if that is warranted. The Alamanni were on the move a lot though so I doubt if names from Ammianus Marcellinus can be applied much earlier than then.

The sarcasm? Sorry, men. I probably use the device too much. It is a form of reductio ad absurdum but oftentimes the discussion on Wikipedia descends to "yes it is", "no it ain't", "it are too", "the heck it is", "I'll do it", "your daren't", "I quit you jerk", "you can't quit I'm suspending you", and so on, which isn't really any better. I'll try to do better by you. A little humor once in a while is good. If you can turn someone's intense and deprecating verbal attack into a laugh you defuse the situation.

All this fresh material means we can go further with this article but it will take more time. I'm starting to get concerned for space because I know there is more to be said even in summary so I will try to condense some of the material I've worked on.Dave 12:24, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

New Assessment Criteria for Ethnic Groups articles
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Thanks! --Ling.Nut 20:05, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

 * Sorry if my reply is not exactly concerning this post, or even commenting it, but :
 * Some years ago I read (at Ellwangen's "Alemannenmuseum"), that genetic or research or chemical abalysis had shown proof, that people buried at the same site in about the same period had originated from places some 100 km away in Thüringen and even Northern Germany. 2A01:C22:D43A:2D00:2DBE:D86A:E4C1:DF3A (talk) 23:01, 7 April 2023 (UTC)

Passage apparently duplicating information in the text
"The Alamanni also were regarded as the Suebi. That name, however, never applied only to one tribe, as the sources tell us. It eventually became a general ethnic designation of all the Germanics in central Germany. Losing their tribal ethnicity, the Alamanni defaulted to just being Suebi, but they do not appear under that name in Ptolemy. Ptolemy's Suebi is a somewhat amorphous mass in central germany. They include the Suevi Angili, and the Suevi Semnones, an indefinite population southeast of the Saxons, south of the Teutons and on the upper Elbe south to the Danube."
 * If any phrase above is not now in the text, please do re-edit it in. --Wetman 17:20, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Map shows Alsace?
The second map (and I think the first, if the last river on the left is the Rhein...) show the Alamanni as being partially located in present-day France. If I remember correctly, the local patois around Colmar is called Allemanisch, which also makes me think they were in the area. Am I seeing it correctly? If so, we should change the opening paragraph...

Ionesco 18:06, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
 * well, yes, they settled the Alsace in the 5th century. What do you want to change in the intro? See Alsatian language for the modern Alemannic dialect of the Alsace. dab (𒁳) 18:44, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Caracalla did not rule over the Holy Roman Empire
He ruled over the Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire didn't come into existence until the middle ages. I'm correcting this error. Dr. Morbius 21:17, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

the first map shows moguntiacum in the wrong place(Neckar->Main) --Echosmoke 18:13, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

Name
I have removed the following from the Name section:

 * Among the still-relevant observations of Fréret on the difficulties that the historian of the Germanic tribes faces, concerning Alamanni: "Ce nom qui signifioit, selon Asinius Quadratus, cité par Agathias, un mélange d'hommes rassemblés de divers pays, n'a jamais été employé que par les étrangers, c'est-à-dire, par les écrivains Latins & par ceux de la Gaule & de l'Espagne, qui l'ont même étendu à tous les peuples de la Germanie. Valafrid Strabon, moine de saint Gal, qui écrivoit sous Louis le Débonnaire dans le neuvième siècle, observe, en parlant des habitans de la Suisse & de ceux des pays voisins, que les étrangers seuls les nomment Alamanni, mais qu'eux mêmes se donnoient le nom de Suevi."

Because the closure of the reference had been misplaced by subsequent editing, I'm not sure whether this was intended to be part of the citation as a sort of footnote. I don't know if Wikipedia has a policy on footnotes but I don't think they're appropriate. In any case, if it's included, this needs to be translated and I'm not competent to do so. A summary of Freret's opinion, however, might be more appropriate, as he is a secondary source.--Jack Upland (talk) 21:18, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Name 2
I've also heard Alamanni described as meaning "Total Men" in line with the warlike names of the Franks and Saxons (named after weapons). The obvious problem with this is that in that period even in English "mann" meant "person". And I can't find any citation on the web. If anyone else knows of one, perhaps then we can add it to the list of suggestions...--Jack Upland (talk) 21:25, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

 * In modern german "Alle Mann an Deck" means "all men on deck" (i.e. the captain calls them for muster) but this isn't the exact origin of Alamanni, in sueabian celtic, "al" means "large" and "ail" means strange/wild, "maon" is man/human, so "alamann" can mean "the large folk", "the many people" or "the wild men". According to Asinius Quadratus it's "the many people" as in oposition to the few who were alied with the roman empire.--79.207.77.239 (talk) 17:47, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Political Organization
The Battle Strasbourg had a great section discussing the political organization, so I moved the source here. I am not sure how the article is organized, but I placed it after the sources because it influences the understanding of the conflict with the Romans. SADADS (talk) 04:33, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Spelling changed to Alemanni

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Move. Jafeluv (talk) 13:17, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Alamanni → Alemanni – No source/authority is given in the article for the spelling currently used Alamanni. This word is earliest recorded in Latin text of Dio Cassius, as article states. I would guess the spelling there is Alemanni. Caracalla's surname became Alemannicus, with an "e". Cannot find the word mentioned in Gibbon, contrary to article, to check his spelling. Such is certainly the spelling (with "e") used in Encyc. Brit. 9th. ed.,(c.1880), Everyman's Encyc. 1967, Everyman's Smaller Classical Dictionary, 1910. The modern French adjective for "Germany" is Allemagne (Larousse Dict.). Thus a spelling with "e" seems to have the greatest etymological validity. For these reasons, I propose to change the article title (redirect page already exists with proposed new spelling) and spellings throughout, whilst retaining a note that other (rare) spellings exist, as conceded by Everyman's Encyc., (but not by the Classical Dict.). Those who disagree need to justify the present spelling, and if accepted by consensus, I suggest adding a brief section on the face of the article explaining the controversy, if any. (Lobsterthermidor (talk) 20:26, 7 March 2012 (UTC))
 * Support. The current edition of Britannica uses the proposed form, as does Columbia and Edward Gibbon. (Vol. 3, Chapter XXXVIII) Kauffner (talk) 00:52, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

well, this move was not a terrible decision, but still slightly ill-advised. Alamanni is used about two to three times as often in scholarly literature, both throughout the 20th century and recently, as is Alemanni. This is confirmed by searches on both google books and jstor.org.

I do not understand why people proposing a rename of an article which was clearly written by people who knew what they were doing are never doing the proper research. Cassius Dior and the French Allemagne aren't of the slightest relevance under WP:NAME. The only thing above which can argued to support the move is the change of spelling in Britannica. People then pretend that this is an official "request" which has been "discussed" and "approved" simply because on editor bothered to comment.

If you ask me, after I have looked into the question, is that Alamanni is the more commonly used spelling in academic literature still, and there was no reason whatsoever for the move. --dab (𒁳) 11:20, 30 March 2012 (UTC)

In the German language room, archaeologists tend to say "Alamannen", but linguists and pretty much everyone else say "Alemannen". However, the Latin version in the records is Alamanni. And since English naming conventions of antique peoples typically strongly rely on the Latin spelling, Alamanni is the only logical choice.

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title: Talk:Alemanni


text:
Mountain unicycling

Mountain unicycling is an adventure sport that consists of traversing rough terrain on a unicycle. Mountain unicycling (muni) is undertaken on similar terrain to mountain biking. However, muni requires much more attention to the microfeatures of the short distance in front of the wheel. Unicycles' lack of a freewheel means that descents must be controlled all the way, and the typical lack of a gear system (though two-gear hubs are available) prevents the rider from reaching high speeds. Muni usually takes place on specially designed unicycles, which are equipped with strong hubs, large, knobbly tires, high-grip pedals and rugged frames. Some are also equipped with rim or disc brakes, having the lever mounted under the nose of the saddle. The brake primarily helps to compensate the downhill-slope force, while more expert riders also use it to decelerate or stop.

Muni riders also need a few additional skills than required for either mountain biking or regular unicycling, with core strength, endurance and balance being key.

Skills
The ability to stall (rock the cranks back and forth while remaining in the same location) and bunny hop (hop up and down while remaining in the same location) are helpful.

Highspeed gliding is a technique to rush down a smooth path with the feet off the pedals and braking with one shoe on the top of the tire.

Equipment
The unicycle typically has broad tires with grippy profile, filled with medium air pressure. The grippy pedals may have a tilt front contour (viewed from the side). The cranks should not be too long – relative to the rim size – to maintain clearance from bigger stones on the ground. Rims are rather broad to be sturdy and may have bores between the spoke holes to save weight, as a typical trial bike wheel. The banana saddle is fixed (not spring suspended) on the fork and carries a front and back bumper made of stiff plastics. The front bumper is used by three fingers from underneath as a handle, when the rider jumps or dismounts – or falls.

The rider wears shoes with grip, uses a helmet and protectors at shins, knees and at least gloves on the hands.

A helmet camera needs a wide angle lens and picture stabilization, because the rider makes sudden and quick head movements to watch the trail.

Events

 * Muni events recognized by the International Unicycling Federation at Unicons are: cross-country, uphill and downhill with the possibility of North Shore downhill.
 * In the United States, the California Mountain Unicycle Weekend and the Moab, Utah Muni Fest (ended as of 2009).
 * In the UK, the British Muni Weekend (BMW).
 * The first Colorado Munifest took place in October 2007, organized by Colorado Muni.
 * The first Arizona Mountain Unicycle Weekend was held in February 2009, organized by the Arizona Unicycle Club.
 * In Australia, Cross County and Downhill are included in UniNats, held by the Australian Unicycle Society every 12–18 months.
 * In Liechtenstein and Switzerland, the Elsbet (abbreviation for Einzigartiges Liechtensteiner und Schweizer Berg-Einrad Treffen, English: Unique Mountain Unicycling Meeting of Liechtenstein and Switzerland)

Canada

 * Kris Holm – Mountain unicycling pioneer and founder of Kris Holm Unicycles
 * Ryan Kremsater

Austria

 * Gerald Rosenkranz – First finisher of Red Bull Dolomitenmann on a unicycle (2015)
 * Markus Pröglhöf

Germany

 * Lutz Eichholz

title: Mountain unicycling