Oldest triceratops had a blunt beak and a small neck frill, according to report in Nature vol 416, p314, 21 March 2002. Scientists have found a skull of a juvenile dinosaur about the size of a dog in the Yixian formation of western Liaoning Province, China dated as 128 to 145 million years old (late Jurassic to early Cretaceous). The fossil is interesting in that it has a combination of features previously thought to have evolved in two separate groups of horned dinosaurs. The scientists claim this is “mosaic evolution of characters”.

Editorial Comment: The idea that creatures are “mosaics,” i.e. unique combinations of non-unique characteristics is actually a creationist idea from the early days of science, when Creationists dominated, e.g. Linnaeus (Biology) Owen (Geology). The fact that living creatures such as platypus share characteristics with other living creatures (reptiles, mammals) proves merely that the same characteristics can be useful in different creatures. This means you could logically argue this is what you would expect if living creatures were created as separate kinds by an intelligent designer who knew what characteristics would enable each kind to function in the environment it was to be placed in. The percentage of overlapping characteristics merely reflects the percentage of overlapping needs. It is no proof that one creature evolved into another. (Ref. Dinosaurs, Triceratops, mosaic)