Paleontologists have discovered a new horned dinosaur on the border of Canada and the United States; The animal was named Lociceratops, inspired by the god Loki in Scandinavian myths. However, the fact that Lociceratops was an independent species is controversial due to its extraordinary number of neighbors. And all things considered, it was discovered in North America, a long way from dinosaurs.

One of the most famous dinosaurs – along with tyrannosaurus or diplodocus – can rightfully be called triceratops. It will probably sound familiar to those who watched the movie “Jurassic Park”, but this herbivorous dinosaur, like the entire ceratopsid family, lived during the Maastrichtian stage (72.1 ± 0.2-66 million years ago) at the end of the Cretaceous period.

These ancient animals are distinguished by horns on their foreheads (some have a similar growth on their nose) and a bone collar, sometimes covered with spikes. Many ceratopsids lived in North America, but a few species were also found in Asia (turanoceratops, for example, was discovered in the Kizilkum desert).

A new representative of ceratopsid was discovered in the state of Montana on the border between the USA and Canada – a group of American and European paleontologists announced this find. In the late Cretaceous period, when North America had not yet turned into a single continent, this area was the island of Lara Medea, and there lived a large number of horned dinosaurs with different features of the skull (some of them had spikes on their sides, while others had only one). horn etc.). A new skull with two stingers of different sizes and numerous collar ornaments appears to belong to a previously unknown species – its description was published in the magazine PeerJ.

The fossils were discovered in 2019 at the Loki quarry near the town of Rudyard in Montana (the town is named after author Rudyard Kipling). Two years later, samples began to be examined; Many parts of the skull, two horns, a scapula, vertebrae and pelvic bones were transported to the state of Utah, where they were prepared for reconstruction. Scientists created a 3D model of the skull and then created three-dimensional replicas for the study.

Paleontologists named a new dinosaur Lokiceratops rangiformis In honor of Loki, one of the gods of German-Scandinavian mythology who wears a horned helmet in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Two curved horns also grow from the forehead of the open animal, and two protrusions are attached to the collar – but they are asymmetrical. The most likely age of the find is 78.1 million years ago, meaning the animal lived during the Campanian phase of the Late Cretaceous. The expected dimensions of the herbivore are as follows: Its length is 6.7 meters and its weight is five tons. The authors of the article are highlighted lociceratops in an independent genus, and phylogenetic analysis showed that it is close to the other two – Albertaceratops and Medusaceratops.

Interestingly, about 78 million years ago, five separate ceratopsid taxa, including a new one, lived simultaneously in Montana, and no such settlements have been found anywhere in Laramidia. These horned dinosaurs are similar in many ways and differ mainly in collar pattern. Paleontologists believe that, like many birds, males attract females with their help, and note that some unique species among birds can be distinguished only by their plumage and song.

In this context, the identification of Lociceratops as a separate genus is controversial; Such a high species diversity of large herbivores has increased the risk of competition. Either different taxa fed on different types of plants (with their jaws arranged similarly) or Lokiceratops rangiformis In fact, it is one of the first dinosaurs found with an unusual collar.

If Lociceratops and other horned neighbors were independent species, rapid evolution may have led to their emergence. However, this could also lead to the rapid extinction of these animals; because species populations are isolated, living in small areas and avoiding competition; This causes them to accumulate genetic mutations. Scientists believe their discovery indicates that the species diversity of North American dinosaurs has been underestimated and that many animals have yet to be discovered.