The skull of this new dinosaur , similar in many respects to Triceratops , was found ten years ago by a man, Peter Hewes (in whose honor is named), he found some bones protruding from a cliff into the Oldman River southeast Alberta ( Canada).
Now, Caleb paleontologists Donald Brown and Henderson have submitted in society in an article published today Current Biology Cell Press .
“The specimen comes from the geographical region of Alberta , where they had found horned dinosaurs in advance, so, from the beginning, we knew it was important, “said Brown, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in the Canadian city.
The co-authors of the study, Brown and Donald Henderson, named the new dinosaur like Regaliceratops peterhewsi , referring to the kind of ruff or wheel and the man who informed of its existence the museum.
“Obviously it was a new species, unexpectedly, many researchers in dinosaurs with horns visited the museum looked at twice the first time I saw in the lab, “said Brown, who recalled that his uniqueness is so obvious noted that ” you could say it was a new species only see a hundred meters “.
What
was unmistakable this dinosaur was the size and appearance of their facial horns and frill, as a shield in the back of the skull .
The new species is similar in many respects, the Triceratops, except that his nasal horn is highest, while the two small about are “almost ridiculously small” your eyes.
But is the most distinctive feature Neck ornament , which Brown described as a halo of large pentagonal plates projecting outwardly and a central peak, the result of these have the appearance of a crown ” considered.
The most important thing in this issue is , according to the study authors, the implications in the evolution of ornamental horned dinosaurs.
Traditionally horned dinosaurs are divided into two groups Chasmosaurus with a small horn on the head, larger ones over the eyes and a long frill, and Centrosaurus, which were characterized by a long horn on the nose, two small eyes and a small ruff.
This new species is a Chasmosaurus, but its ornamentation is more like the a Centrosaurio , and lived after the extinction of Centrosaurus, Brown said.
All added, this new specimen is the first example of evolutionary convergence of horned dinosaurs , which means that these two groups evolved independently with similar characteristics.
Researchers hope to find new specimens of Regaliceratops peterhewsi , while working in the digital reconstruction Skull found, because although it is intact, the fossil has been deformed after spending 70 million years in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
“ This discovery also suggests that there may be more dinosaurs horned but we have not yet found, so Brown pointed find other new species “.
EFE
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