Fossils of dinosaur skulls unearthed in the midwestern US have revealed two new species of unusual horned dinosaurs, researchers said on Wednesday.
One, nicknamed Judith after the Judith River geological formation in Montana where it was found a decade ago, is said to be about 76 million years old.
Formally named Spiclypeus shipporum, the creature was part of the Chasmosaurine subfamily — which includes the famous genus Triceratops — and had “horns over the eyes, which stuck out sideways from the skull,” the report in the journal PLOS ONE said.
This big, lumbering herbivore also had a “unique arrangement of bony spikes that emanated from the margin of the frill,” or neck shield, it said.
“Some spikes curled forward, while others projected outward,” the report said.
Researchers found a collection of bones, including parts of the skull, legs, hips and backbone, some of which showed signs of arthritis and infection, suggesting that the animal might have suffered pain.
It lived for about 10 years, judging by the growth rings inside the bones.
“This is a spectacular new addition to the family of horned dinosaurs that roamed western North America between 85 and 66 million years ago,” said lead author Jordan Mallon of the Canadian Museum of Nature. “It provides new evidence of dinosaur diversity during the Late Cretaceous period from an area that is likely to yield even more discoveries.”
Nine dinosaur species have been found in the Judith River Formation, some of which were also found in Alberta.
However, Spiclypeus appears to be unique to Montana. Its name is combination of two Latin words meaning “spiked shield” and shipporum, a nod to the man who found the fossil on his land, Bill Shipp.
“Little did I know that the first time I went fossil hunting I would stumble on a new species,” said Shipp, a retired nuclear physicist. “As a scientist, I’m really pleased that the Canadian Museum of Nature has recognized the dinosaur’s value, and that it can now be accessed by researchers around the world as part of the museum’s fossil collections.”
Another horned dinosaur uncovered in the Wahweap Formation in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah was adorned with two spikes rising out of its neck shield.
Newly named Machairoceratops cronusi is estimated to have lived about 77 million years ago.
“Machairoceratops is unique in possessing two large, forward-curving spikes off of the back of the neck shield,” the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Eric Lund said.
He said each spike contained a “channel extending from the base of the spike to the tip, the function of which is currently unknown.”
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