Scientists discover a new dinosaur with frills

During a recent study, scientists have discovered a new dinosaur species in the southern territories of Alberta, Canada. They have named the newfound prehistoric dino species as “Wendy’s horned-face. Its scientific name, on the other hand, is Wendiceratops pinhornensis.

The Wendiceratops were marked by elaborate head and horn ornamentation, a feature that sheds light on evolution of similar features in the triceratops family of dinosaurs, the same family of which Wendy is a member.

Dinosaur

According to David Evans, one of the coauthors of the study published in the journal PLOS One on July 8, this new dinosaur species will be helping the scientists in determining how evolution of skull ornamentation took place in a specific group of dinos known for boasting horned faces.

Evans wrote that Wendiceratops used to have wide frills that were ringed with several curled horns; the animal’s nose, on the other hand, used to possess a big and upright horn. He continued by saying that there are chances that the Wendy dinos also had horns over their eyes.

According to Evans, the number of horns and frill projections possessed by the Wendiceratops makes them one of the most amazing horned dinos discovered to date.

Evans, who represents the University of Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum, coauthored the study along with Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Michael Ryan. The newly unearthed dino species has been named after Wendy Sloboda, the famous fossil hunter from Alberta. Sloboda is the one responsible for discovering the site in Alberta, Canada, where archaeologists found the remains of this horned dino in 2010.

When carrying out excavations in the southern part of the famous Alberta site Oldman Formation, scientists found more than 200 bones belonging to a minimum of four Wendiceratops (one juvenile and three adults). According to information provided by the paleontologists, the Wendiceratops used to move around this planet around 79 million years back.

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Wendy’s head used to be lined with multiple hook-like horns that embellished the animal’s broad, shield-like frills coming out from the back of the skull. In spite of being a bony structure made of horns, the ornamentation described above provided Wendy with a perfect curly hair look.

The researchers also revealed that despite having a girly name, and attractive frills and curls, the Wendiceratops used to have a pretty big body. A full-grown Wendy used to have a body of around 20 feet and weighed over a ton.