What connects extravagant clothing, the Norse god Loki and ancient reptiles?
Surprisingly, scientists say the answer is a newly discovered horned dinosaur that roamed the swamps of Montana 78 million years ago.
Lokiceratops rangiformis, which loosely means “Loki’s horned, caribou-like face,” sported some of the largest and most extravagant horns of any dinosaur.
And, at 27 feet (6.7 m) long and weighing 11,000 pounds (5 tons), scientists say this “sexy beast” is the largest horned dinosaur ever found in North America.
But according to the dinosaur’s co-discoverer, Professor Mark Loewen of the University of Utah, this herbivore would have been a non-violent “gentle giant.”
Scientists have discovered a huge horned dinosaur whose extravagant horns have led its discoverers to call it a “sexy beast”.
Lokiceratops rangiformis, which loosely means “Loki’s horned, caribou-like face,” is named after the horns and curved blades of the Norse trickster god popularized by Tom Hiddleston in the Marvel cinematic universe.
Professor Loewen and his co-senior author Joseph Sertich of Colorado State University found Lokiceratops in the badlands of northern Montana.
Just two miles south of the Canadian border, the pair discovered fragments of a huge skull buried in the rock.
By joining bone fragments smaller than plates, the pair managed to assemble the complete skull of an undiscovered species.
Lokiceratops rangiformis is a member of the horned dinosaurs called ceratopsians that includes the triceratops.
However, this new frilled dinosaur emerged 12 million years before its more famous relative appeared on the scene and sported a number of unique features.
Professor Loewen told MailOnline: “It was the most massive ceratopsian ever evolved when it lived, and possessed the longest skull of any land animal that existed until 78 million years ago.”
That enormous skull is topped by two enormous curved, blade-like horns, as well as an asymmetrical horn in the center that resembles caribou antlers.
These unusual features combined to give Lokiceratops rangiformis its unusual name.
Lokiceratops had the longest skull of any animal that ever existed until 78 million years ago, when it roamed the northern plains of Montana.
Archaeologists were able to assemble the skull from fragments the size of a plate or smaller.
Professor Loewen says: “The dinosaur now has a permanent home in Denmark, so we chose a Norse god and in the end, doesn’t he really look like Loki with the curved blades?”
But those impressive horns weren’t just about violence, as Professor Loewen suggests, they could have been brightly colored and designed.
Professor Loewen told MailOnline: “We speculate that it had brightly colored horns because we believe the horns were used as sexual displays to attract mates.”
Frills and horns are common to the family of dinosaurs called ceratopsids and would have been an important deterrent to any potential predator.
Researchers suggest that the dinosaur’s enormous horns and blades may have served a similar purpose to birds’ colorful plumage: helping to attract mates and recognize other members of the species.
The researchers suggest that the large size and diversity of ceratopsid ruffles suggest they may have served a social purpose.
Co-author Dr. Sertich says, “We think the horns of these dinosaurs were analogous to what birds do with displays: they use them for mate selection or species recognition.”
He adds: “These skull ornaments are one of the keys to unlocking the diversity of horned dinosaurs and demonstrate that evolutionary selection for eye-catching displays contributed to the dizzying richness of Cretaceous ecosystems.”
Importantly, the Lokiceratops skull was found in a rock layer where four other horned dinosaurs had previously been found.
This suggests that multiple distinct species would have lived alongside each other in the swamps and coastal plains of eastern Laramidia, the western landmass of North America.
Lokiceratops (top left) was found in a rock layer that contained three other different species from the same family (pictured). This suggests that they all lived together in a small geographical area.
This map shows the geological region where the new dinosaur was discovered. You can see Lokiceratops’ location highlighted with the yellow star.
Lokiceratops was one of several horned dinosaurs that lived in the eastern part of Laramidia, the western landmass of North America. Their locations and time periods are shown in this diagram.
Like birds, these horned dinosaurs evolved quickly and in a small area and developed a wide range of colorful displays.
Dr Sertich says: “It’s unheard of diversity to find five living together, similar to what you would see today on the plains of East Africa with different horned ungulates.”
However, 12 million years later, when Triceratops first emerged, these distinct groups had homogenized into just two species.
Researchers say this discovery gives us insight into the incredible diversity of the iconic horned dinosaurs and their complex evolutionary history.
Professor Loewen concludes: “Lokiceratops helps us understand that we are only scratching the surface when it comes to diversity and relationships within the horned dinosaur family tree.”
