By Stephanie Pappas,
Live Science Contributor | May 18, 2016 01:58pm ET
A fossil skull found in Montana a
decade ago by a retired physicist has officially been declared the head of a
new species of dinosaur.
The new dino, dubbed Spiclypeus shipporum, looked a bit
like Triceratops, but
rather than three smooth horns, it sported a neck frill decorated with bony
spikes, some curling in and others curling out. It also had horns over
its eyes that projected sideways from the head like misplaced ears. The
particular specimen used to identify the species was an adult with a bone
infection and arthritis, researchers report today (May 18) in the journal PLOS ONE.
"This is a spectacular new
addition to the family of horned dinosaurs that roamed western North America
between 85 and 66 million years ago," said study researcher Jordan Mallon
of the Canadian Museum of Nature.
The scientific name Spiclypeus shipporum comes from the
Latin words for "spiked shield" combined with the surname Shipp,
after Bill Shipp, a retired physicist and amateur fossil hunter who first
discovered the bones of the new species. Before being named Spiclypeus shipporum, though, the
dinosaur was known by the nickname "Judith." The moniker came from
the Judith River geological formation, where the bones were found. The details
of the dinosaur's place on the tree of life are online at judiththedinosaur.com, but the
new PLOS ONE paper represents its official scientific debut.
Judith lived in what is today dry
countryside in north-central Montana near the town of Winifred. Seventy-five
million years ago, though, this spot was marshy floodlands not far from the
shore of an inland sea. Her bones were preserved under bentonite (a type of
clay) and mudstone, Shipp said in a video
about Judith's discovery. The first fossil bones of the dinosaur were
excavated from the hillside where they rested in 2005.
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