Scientists have discovered a new dinosaur that looks very cool. This beast with complex horns resembles the famous Triceratops and, Lociceratops rangiformisIt is thought to have roamed the western half of North America more than 78 million years ago, when the continent was divided into several large islands.
Discovery and naming L. rangiformis The fossil was discovered by a large group of researchers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Panama. The fossils used to identify it were unearthed in the badlands of northern Montana, not far from Canada. At the time, the area was thought to be mainly swamps and floodplains. L. rangiformis They are thought to have lived along the eastern coast of Laramidia, a Late Cretaceous island continent that emerged as a result of the Western Interior Sea dividing what is now North America.
The first name of this dinosaur comes from the Norse god Loki, known for his horned attire, and the second name comes from the caribou, a modern animal with asymmetrical horns. L. rangiformis It literally means “Loki’s horned face like a caribou.”
L. rangiformis is part of a diverse group of dinosaurs called ceratopsians, which are thought to have first appeared about 92 million years ago. Ceratopsians were generally successful, living right up until the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, 66 million years ago (you guessed it). However, scientists L. rangiformis Among these dinosaurs, it occupied a much narrower niche.
The team’s findings are detailed in a paper. Published Thursday Journal Peer JThe Natural History Museum of Utah and other institutions will be unveiling the dinosaurs to the public this week, and the team also released beautiful reconstructions of them and three other ceratopsian species that coexisted with them.
“This new dinosaur pushes the limits of outlandishness in ceratopsian head ornaments, boasting the largest frill horns ever seen on a ceratopsian,” co-lead author Joseph Sertich, a paleontologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University, said in a statement. release by the University of Utah, which operates the museum.
L. rangiformis It is the fourth ceratopsian to be identified in the region and the fifth ceratopsian overall, and has led paleontologists to reevaluate the evolutionary branch of these animals. L. rangiformis And other ceratopsians evolved dramatically, too. And while horns may seem frightening to us today, researchers believe they were more like ornaments, used to lure females for mating.
“These skull ornaments provide one of the keys to unlocking the diversity of horned dinosaurs, demonstrating that evolutionary selection for flashy displays contributed to the dazzling richness of Cretaceous ecosystems,” Sertich said.
