Regaliceratops
| Regaliceratops Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 68.5–67.5 Ma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Family: | †Ceratopsidae |
| Subfamily: | †Chasmosaurinae |
| Tribe: | †Triceratopsini |
| Genus: | †Regaliceratops Brown & Henderson, 2015 |
| Type species | |
| †Regaliceratops peterhewsi Brown & Henderson, 2015 | |
Regaliceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 68 million years ago (Mya) in what is now Canada.[1][2]
Closely related to Triceratops, Regaliceratops was named for its plated frill, which its describers thought looked somewhat like a crown. In 2005, geologist Peter Hews discovered a skull at the Oldman River in Alberta. The fossil was secured by a team of the Royal Tyrrell Museum. The specimen was given the nickname "Hellboy" for its horns and the difficulty of removing it from the matrix.[3]
In 2015, Caleb Marshall Brown and Donald Henderson named and described the type species Regaliceratops peterhewsi. The generic name combines Latin regalis, "royal", a reference to both the crown-shaped neck shield and the "Royal" Tyrrell, with a Greek keras, "horn", and ops, "face". The specific name honours Hews.[1]
The holotype, TMP 2005.055.0001, was found in a layer of the St. Mary River Formation dating from the middle Maastrichtian, about 68 million years old. It consists of a rather complete skull of which the snout bone, the rostral, is lacking. The skull has been deformed by compression and its rear and underside are obscured by matrix.[1]
Regaliceratops was about five metres long, with an estimated weight of 1.5 tonnes.[4]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 Brown, Caleb M.; Henderson, Donald M. (June 4, 2015). "A new horned dinosaur reveals convergent evolution in cranial ornamentation in ceratopsidae". Current Biology (online). doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.04.041.
- ↑ "New species of horned dinosaur with 'bizarre' features revealed". Retrieved 2015-06-05.
- ↑ "'Hellboy' dinosaur rewrites the prehistory book". 3 News. 5 June 2015.
- ↑ Will Dunham, 2015, "Meet 'Hellboy,' the dinosaur with exotic horns and frill", Reuters 04 June 2015
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