Triceratops Gallop?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Expensive for a retro style piece to me. The concept of galliping triceratops was debunked in the nineties anyways. It is a gorgeous model, but the pose is highly unlikely.

[tyrantqueen]

Expensive for a retro style piece to me. The concept of galliping triceratops was debunked in the nineties anyways. It is a gorgeous model, but the pose is highly unlikely.

Where can I read up on this? Why exactly was it impossible for a Trike to gallop? Was it just the sheer bulk of the animal that meant Triceratops was incapable of galloping? Are there any papers and such that demonstrate this debunking you speak of?
Thanks

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Spent an hour looking back through posts to find the paper that was posted a long time back I had thought by Wings, addressing triceratops foot posture and so forth. I did not find it so if anyone has the papers relating to the studies done on triceratops posture and gait....it would be useful. However aside from that, as I said there was at least one solid debunking done in the nineties by a team who made high fidelity casts of triceratops leg bones. Elastic bands were used to imitate the muscles and tendons, and then various arrangements and so forth were attempted. The team was unable to find any single arrangement or pattern for the bones that would have allowed a galloping motion, despite their study. This study was pictured and written about in at least one book dating from that time...."Hunting Dinosaurs" I know there have been several subsequent studies that reinforced that opinion, but I am not sure any were actually offered in paper form. Help anyone?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

If the feet are actually oriented to the side it would make it difficult for the animal to run I would think. Hadrosaurs have a similar problem but they can run on their back legs without the front feet being an issue right ?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

The proper restoration for triceratops front leg bones has been an ongoing debate since the first specimen was mounted. If you mount it the expected way, just viewing the pieces, the upper end of one bone is constantly  impacting the rib cage, There have been several attempts to get the precise alignment nailed down, the current perception being the most likely. In this stance a triceratops front legs seem to angle outward, then slant inwards at the knees, with the hands again facing slightly outwards. This seems most to match the trackways that have been found as well. In this position it does not appear likely the dinosaur could gallop , or was designed for fast running.

[stoneage]

What I remember is that Triceratops front legs were designed so that it could move from side to side effectively in order to keep its head between itself and predators.

[Trisdino]

I am pretty sure the idea that Triceratops cannot run is outdated by now, though they probably were not particularly fast.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Noone has said they could not run, what I said was it was highly unlikely they could gallop. There is quite a bit of difference in the two terms. Just about any animal can run at its own best speed wether an elephant or a camel. If you ever want to compare the two watch video of an elephant running versus a horse galloping. A gallop requires a great deal of rythmn and timing, compared to a simple run. Most gallops require a given number of feet be in the air at any one time for instance, wether two or four. That idea is not outdated, and likely will not be. 
  The main issue is that a triceratops feet and muscles are just not likely to have moved in that fashion given the mechanics of how they are positioned and connected.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

What I remember is that Triceratops front legs were designed so that it could move from side to side effectively in order to keep its head between itself and predators.

Yes, this is true and even more accurate, the head itself is attached via a very elaborate ball and socket arrangement called an Occipute which would have allowed the triceratops, using minimal effort to toss its head in any given direction or angle very easily.