Paleontologists have identified a new species of dinosaur in Montana with a set of ornate horns on its head that resemble the blades wielded by Loki, the Norse god of mischief.
Knewz.com has learned that scientists named the species Lokiceratops, with "ceratops" meaning "horned face" in Greek.
The fossilized skull of the dinosaur has been on display at the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark, for more than a year. What it lacked was a name.
The specimen was first discovered in the badlands of northern Montana, about 3 miles south of the US-Canada border, around five years ago.
According to CNN, this region, which used to be a subtropical coastal plain around 78 million years ago, was separated from the mainland and formed a large island called Laramidia.
The latest research into the species, which was published in the journal PeerJ, wrote that the Lokiceratops lived among similar horned dinosaurs in the swamps and floodplains on the island's eastern shore.
"It’s an area that’s known for producing horned dinosaurs. In fact, there are four other species of horned dinosaurs known from this particular region," Joseph Sertich, a paleontologist with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Colorado State University, and co-leader of the research, told CNN.
"So when we started working on it, we assumed that it was going to be one of those four [meaning the four species of the Ceratopsidae family of dinosaurs, characterized by their parrot-like beaks, horns, and neck frills]."
"We were completely shocked to find out that it was a totally new species," Sertrich added.
Except the ornate horns that earned it its name, this newly identified species closely resembles a triceratops, a vegetarian dino species from the final 3 million years of the Cretaceous Period.
Scientifically named Lokiceratops rangiformis, the massive 22-foot-long dinosaur had two curved horns above its eyes, small horns on its cheeks, and an array of around 20 horns and spikes all over its frills.
Notable among the horns on its frills were two asymmetrical blade-shaped ones, each around two feet in length. Reuters noted that these are the largest frill horns ever observed in a dinosaur.
"The generic name refers to the god Loki from Norse mythology, and ceratops, (Greek) meaning “horned face.” The species name refers to the bilateral asymmetry of frill ornamentations, similar to the asymmetry in antlers of the reindeer/caribou genus Rangifer," the research mentioned.
Reuters pointed out that the nomenclature also "recognizes the permanent home of the fossils at the Museum of Evolution in Denmark."
Regarding the utility of the ornate horns, Sertrich told Reuters that the horns and frills were mostly used by the Lokiceratops, and other dinosaurs from the Ceratopsidae family, "for display."
"These displays could have been used to intimidate rivals, attract mates, or recognize members of the same species," said Sertrich.
Scientists found that the Lokiceratops was one of five horned dinosaur species that shared the same ecosystem. Study co-lead author Mark Loewen of the University of Utah and the Natural History Museum of Utah commented, via Reuters, "Really, this is like finding five species of elephants living on the same savanna in Kenya."
"This is the first time five ceratopsians have been recognized from the same ecosystem. For over a century, it was believed that no more than two could co-exist in the same ecosystem, but emerging evidence here in Montana, and elsewhere in southern Laramidia, is revealing unexpected richness," Sertrich weighed in.
"This parallels a pattern seen in mammalian evolution that is still on display in east and south Africa with bovids -antelope and buffalo."
