Revealed 6-horned monster in America, weighing up to 5 tons

(NLDO) - The terrifying skull of a 78-million-year-old monster named Lokiceratops rangiformis was discovered near the US-Canada border.

According to Live Science, the name Lokiceratops rangiformis is inspired by the name of the god Loki in Norse mythology - who wears a hat with horns similar to the largest horns of this beast when appearing in Marvel movies.

Portrait of a new living beast, during the Cretaceous period - Photo: MUSEUM OF EVOLUTION

The fossilized skull of the beast was found in the Judith River Formation in Badlands National Park, part of the US state of Montana, just 3.2 km from the border with Canada.

According to research results recently published in the journal PeerJ , this is a previously unknown species of the Ceratopsia dinosaur branch.

The ceratopsians were horned and herbivorous, of which Triceratops - the three-horned dinosaur, triangle dragon - was the most famous group.

The terrifying skull of Lokiceratops rangiformis - Photo: MUSEUM OF EVOLUTION

You can imagine the new beast Lokiceratops rangiformis as a terrifying version of the trident.

The fossil skull also helps calculate the beast's body length of up to 6.7 m and weight of up to 5 tons.

Most notably, co-author Joseph Sertich from Colorado State University (USA) described that the animal had "pushed the limits of the strange headgear of the Ceratopsia species to the extreme".

In addition to a pair of long Loki-like horns on top of its head, and another pair on each cheek, it also possesses a third pair of horns perched on top of the giant frill-like structure around its head that Ceratopsians possess.

This third pair of horns was shorter than Loki's but thicker, earning it the name rangiformis, which means "reindeer-like".

Although it has two extra pairs of horns compared to the Triceratops, this species lacks a nasal horn, a feature that all known Ceratopsia have.

At 78 million years old, this beast lived about 12 million years before Triceratops appeared. Both times were during the Cretaceous period.

At that time, what is now North America was a large island continent called Laramidia. The newly identified species likely inhabited the swamps and floodplains along the eastern coast of this ancient landmass.

The new beast is the fourth Ceratopsian and fifth horned dinosaur from the same period to be unearthed in Laramidia.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/lo-dien-loai-quai-thu-6-sung-o-my-nang-toi-5-tan-196240622065003646.htm