In 2019, a group of paleontologists discovered Northern Montana dinosaur remains that may soon become Triceratops. However, when two scientists reconstructed parts of its skull, they saw that it was in fact a species never seen before. New dinosaur named Locyceratops rangiformisin honor of God Nordic lie. See italics because Loki was not actually a god. But we’ll leave that for another day.
This is not a lying dinosaur. If this character was chosen for his name, it was due to the resemblance to horns loki helmet. It actually has two pairs of horns. Some are shaped like curved blades on the back of the handlebar, while others look like caribou blades on the top of the handlebar. The frill, also known as the gola, is a bony shield that was located on the back of the skull of ancient dinosaurs. Triceratops family. It is usually accompanied by a pair of horns. They also usually have a horn on their nose. However, this new dinosaur has two pairs of horns on its throat and none on its nose.
This is just one of the features of this dinosaur, the discovery of which, according to its authors, had a happy ending. And instead of ending up in a millionaire’s mansion, he ends up in museum where everyone can visit.
Horned dinosaur of the new Norse god
This new dinosaur belongs to the family ceratopsids, to which Triceratops belongs. However, the subfamily is not the same. While the Triceratops is inside the group ChasmosaurinesHe Locyceratops rangiformis included in Centrosaurines. At the moment it is the largest of the dinosaurs of this subfamily. 6.7 meters and 5 tons. And also the only one that was found in North America.
It is believed that he lived for several 78 million years and it was herbivorous. It is curious that fossils were also found in the same rock layer. four other species. Three of them were closely related to each other, but were only discovered in this particular region, near the border between the United States and Canada. This indicates that some dinosaur species evolved in groups isolated from others.
What are their horns used for?
The two scientists responsible for this discovery, Joseph Sertich and Mark Lowen, believe that perhaps this new dinosaur’s curious horns were a form exhibition. In fact, the usefulness of ceratopsid horns and frills has long been debated among scientists.
In general, it is believed that a frill can serve as a real shield, both for self-defense and for attack in the fight against other dinosaurs. Triceratops fossils were found with bite marks on the nasal horn that could have belonged to a Tyrannosaurus rex. Because the horn later regenerated, it appears the smaller animal survived. Does this mean he had a great defensive weapon against large predators? Some scientists disagree with this and believe that Triceratops has nothing to do with T. rex ready to commit suicide. But it could be used to fight other dinosaurs of the same species.
There is still a lot of discussion about this. But what seems clearer is that the horns attached to the handlebars may be a form of display within their species. Sertic and Levene compare it to bird feathers. On the one hand, they serve to court females, and on the other, to ensure that individuals of the same species recognize each other.
Be that as it may, it is clear that this new dinosaur had very special horns, perhaps having some other use that has not yet been discovered.
From Montana to Denmark
Although Sertich and Lowe belong to the University of Colorado and the University of Utah respectively, the remains of this dinosaur were sent to Denmark to be displayed in their museum. National Museum of Evolution.
For Utah Museum of Natural Historyhis scientists made a copy of the skull Locyceratops, so your visitors can enjoy it too. Although these are not real fossils, the replica is more than enough to see what it was like and learn a little about this new dinosaur. On the other hand, scientists who want to study it closely will have to travel to Denmark, the land of the Norse gods.
Source: Hiper Textual
