Researchers from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Natural History Museum of Utah recently discovered a new species of horned dinosaur in Canada and Montana.
The new dinosaur was identified by skull fragments researchers unearthed from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta and Judith River Formation in Montana. The remains found in Montana were originally from a private land, but the unidentified owners donated the pieces to the Royal Ontario Museum. Bones found in Canada were discovered by University of Alberta preparator Susan-Owen Kagen.
"Susan showed me her specimen during one of my trips to Alberta," said Dr. Michael Ryan, lead author of the study and curator of vertebrate paleontology. "I instantly recognized it as being from the same type of dinosaur that the Royal Ontario Museum had from Montana."
The scientists named the new long-horned dinosaur Mercuriceratops, named after the Roman god Mercury because of the wing-like orientation on its head. Based on the bones collected, the researchers deduced that this species of dinosaur evolved in a different way. A large frill on its back resembled the fins found on 1950s cars.
Ryan explained thAT horned dinosaurs once thrived in North America with differently detailed skull ornaments, which helped them identify each other. The horns and the skull ornaments also worked as a protection from predators, as well as a tool to attract mates.
The researchers added that the frill observed in the mercuriceratops was different from all the frills documented in the dinosaurs discovered so far.
"Mercuriceratops shows that evolution gave rise to much greater variation in horned dinosaur headgear than we had previously suspected," said Dr. David Evans, curator of the vertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Further details of this study were published in the June 19 issue of Naturwissenschaften.
