Paleontologists have identified a new species of dinosaur, named Lokiceratops, characterized by its distinctive blade-like horns. This groundbreaking discovery, made in the badlands of northern Montana, offers new insights into the diversity and evolution of horned dinosaurs.
Paleontologists have unearthed an extraordinary new species of dinosaur that boasts an impressive set of blade-like horns. Named Lokiceratops rangiformis, this 78-million-year-old plant-eater not only stands out for its unique frill horns but also offers unprecedented insights into the evolutionary intricacies of horned dinosaurs.
Joseph Sertich, a paleontologist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University, and Mark Loewen, a University of Utah professor, announced their groundbreaking discovery in the scientific journal PeerJ. Collaborating on the study, Sertich and Loewen chose the name Lokiceratops, which intriguingly means “Loki’s horned face that looks like a caribou,” a nod to the Norse trickster god known for his bladed weapons.
“The dinosaur now has a permanent home in Denmark, so we went with a Norse god, and in the end, doesn’t it just really look like Loki with the curving blades?” Loewen said in a statement.
Discovered in 2019 in the badlands of northern Montana, just south of the U.S.-Canada border, Lokiceratops stands as the largest centrosaurine dinosaur ever found in North America. The newly identified species measures an impressive 22 feet in length and weighs around 11,000 pounds. Its frill horns are the largest ever documented among horned dinosaurs, and it notably lacks the characteristic nose horn typical of its relatives.
Sertich highlighted the significance of this discovery.
“This new dinosaur pushes the envelope on bizarre ceratopsian headgear, sporting the largest frill horns ever seen in a ceratopsian,” Sertich said in a University of Utah press release. “These skull ornaments are one of the keys to unlocking horned dinosaur diversity and demonstrate that evolutionary selection for showy displays contributed to the dizzying richness of Cretaceous ecosystems.”
In essence, the distinctive horns of Lokiceratops may have played a role similar to the colorful feathers of birds, used either for mate selection or species recognition. The study illustrates how diverse and regionally distinct horned dinosaurs were 78 million years ago, contrasting the less varied horned dinosaur populations found much later.
“It’s unheard-of diversity to find five living together, similar to what you would see on the plains of East Africa today with different horned ungulates,” Sertich said in a statement, underscoring that Lokiceratops coexisted with four other dinosaur species in the same rock layer. Such coexistence suggests a rapid regional evolution akin to what’s observed in modern bird species.
By the time Triceratops emerged 12 million years later, the once-diverse horned dinosaur species had homogenized across vast regions from Canada to Mexico, likely due to climatic changes.
“Lokiceratops helps us understand that we only are scratching the surface when it comes to the diversity and relationships within the family tree of horned dinosaurs,” added Loewen, emphasizing how this discovery opens new doors to comprehending the complexities of dinosaur evolution.
Lokiceratops now resides at the Museum of Evolution in Denmark, ensuring that this remarkable piece of our planet’s history will be preserved for future generations to study and admire.
For more detailed insights, the full study is available in the June 2024 issue of PeerJ, providing a fascinating glimpse into the rich tapestry of horned dinosaur diversity.