Archaeologists have named a newly discovered dinosaur, adding to the Ceratopsidae family which includes the legendary Triceratops.
The 6m-long beast, which would have weighed more than a tonne, has been dubbed the Wendiceratops pinhornensis – named after its discoverer, Wendy Sloboda, who is esteemed in Canada after several fossil discoveries such as the Barrosopus slobodai.
Some 200 bones were discovered in Alberta, Canada, in 2011 and the dinosaur would have lived around 79 million years ago, according to the study published in PLOS One.
It stuck to a similar vegetarian diet as its relative the triceratops and would have looked rather sassy with a frill upon its head full of curled horns.
Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and co-author of the study, said: Beyond its odd, hook-like frill, Wendiceratops has a unique horn ornamentation above its nose that shows the intermediate evolutionary development between low, rounded forms of the earliest horned dinosaurs and the large, tall horns of Styracosaurus, and its relatives.
The locked horns of two Wendiceratops could have been used in combat between males to gain access to territory or females.
Dr David Evans, temerty chair and curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada, and co-author added: Wendiceratops helps us understand the early evolution of skull ornamentation in an iconic group of dinosaurs characterised by their horned faces.
The wide frill of Wendiceratops is ringed by numerous curled horns, the nose had a large, upright horn, and its likely there were horns over the eyes too. The number of gnarly frill projections and horns makes it one of the most striking horned dinosaurs ever found.
