Paleontology Dinosaurs with special horn ornaments found in the USA
In the north of the USA, researchers have found the remains of a previously unknown dinosaur. The dinosaur, which weighed around five tons, wore a bizarre horn ornament on its head, as a research team reports in the specialist journal "PeerJ".
23.06.2024, 04:29
23.06.2024, 04:35
SDA
The herbivore had flat, curved horns on its neck shield and further asymmetrical horns on the tip of the shield. In addition, two further large horns extended upwards above the eyes.
According to the researchers, its name Lokiceratops rangiformis ("Loki's horned face that looks like a caribou") was inspired by Norse mythology. There, Loki is the god of deceit and lies.
The shape-shifter is often depicted with horns. Loki is also a popular figure in pop culture and inspired a "Marvel" series of the same name starring Tom Hiddleston, among others. The second name, rangiformis, refers to the different lengths of the horns at the tip of the neck shield, similar to the asymmetrical antlers of caribou and reindeer.
Lived 78 million years ago
Lokiceratops rangiformis is a relative of Triceratops and lived around 78 million years ago, the research team explains. The remains of the approximately seven-metre-long dinosaur were excavated in 2019 in the north of the US state of Montana, a few kilometers south of the Canadian border.
Many dinosaur fossils have already been discovered there. Two palaeontologists from Colorado State University and the University of Utah recognized from the skull fragments that they were dealing with a new species.
Largest Centrosaurinae
According to the researchers, Lokiceratops rangiformis is the largest dinosaur from the Centrosaurinae group found in North America to date. It also probably had larger neck shield horns than its relatives. Unlike other members of the group, however, it did not have a nasal horn.
"We think that the horns of these dinosaurs are similar to what birds do with their feathers," said co-author Joseph Sertich. "They used them either for mate choice or for recognizing conspecifics." The reconstructed skull of the dinosaur was handed over to the collection of the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark.
