New Dinosaur Named After a Deity Due to its Unique Headgear

The Natural History Museum of Utah has unveiled a previously undiscovered species of horned, herbivorous dinosaur, an ancestor of the Triceratops. Its distinctive and impressive headgear has led to it being named after a deity.

Paleontologists discovered fragments of the dinosaur’s skull in 2019 in northern Montana, near the US-Canada border. As they began assembling the skull, they identified it as a new species within the ceratopsian group, characterized by beaks and horns, and known for their herbivorous diet.

The dinosaur exhibits several distinctive characteristics: it lacks a nasal horn, features a pair of large, curved blade-like horns on the back of its frill (the largest observed on a horned dinosaur), and has an asymmetric spike in the middle of the frill.

However, Sertich and Mark Loewen, a professor at the University of Utah and the other lead author of the paper, selected the name Lokiceratops rangiformis for the dinosaur, partly inspired by its impressive headgear.

Naming Inspiration from Norse Mythology

The name pays homage to Loki, the Norse god known for mischief and deception, and roughly translates to ‘Loki’s horned face resembling a caribou.’ “The dinosaur now resides permanently in Denmark, so we opted for a Norse deity, and doesn’t it just resemble Loki with those curved blades?” remarked Loewen, referring to the horned helmet depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Loki.

Lokiceratops measured approximately 22 feet (6.7 m) in length, weighed around 11,000 pounds (5 metric tonnes), and roamed the island continent of Laramidia—now the western part of North America—more than 78 million years ago, existing at least 12 million years before Triceratops.

It represents the fourth centrosaurine, or horned dinosaur, and the fifth dinosaur overall discovered in the region spanning northern Montana and southern Alberta, Canada.

Unprecedented Diversity of Horned Dinosaurs

“Previously, paleontologists believed that at most, two species of horned dinosaurs could coexist in the same place and time,” said Loewen. “Remarkably, we have identified five species living together simultaneously. The skull of Lokiceratops rangiformis differs significantly from the other four contemporaneous animals it shared its environment with.”

The researchers suggest that finding Lokiceratops alongside these other four specimens provides evidence of rapid evolution within a confined geographic area.

“The diversity we’ve uncovered, with five species coexisting, is unprecedented, akin to the diversity seen today on the plains of East Africa among different horned ungulates,” remarked Sertich.

The expanded “family tree” resulting from the inclusion of Lokiceratops likely indicates that dinosaur diversity has been underestimated.

Furthermore, sexual selection likely drove the evolution of these ceratopsians, as mates consistently favored specific traits—such as those seen on Lokiceratops’ frill—resulting in the perpetuation of these traits over time.

“Lokiceratops reveals that we have much more to discover about the diversity and evolutionary relationships among horned dinosaurs,” said Loewen.

The original fossil is housed at the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark, while a replica is on display at the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU). In the video below, Loewen discusses the discovery of Lokiceratops rangiformis and its importance.

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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