Thanks to comparatively plentiful fossils, ceratopsids — horned and frilled dinosaurs with rhinolike bodies, such as Triceratops — are among the best-studied dinosaurs. But there are still surprises to be found.
Consider the 68-million-year-old, nearly complete skull of Regaliceratops peterhewsi, found in southwestern Alberta, Canada and described in Current Biology in June. The dinosaur has a unique frill that Royal Tyrrell Museum paleontologist Caleb Brown, part of the research team, says one fan on social media likened to “looking like the animal ripped the plates off a Stegosaurus and used them to adorn itself.”
Wendiceratops pinhornensis, also from Alberta and described in PLOS One in July, has its own distinctive display: an elaborate assemblage of massive horns and a frill with dramatic, curving hooks. Paleontologists have found scores of bones from at least four individuals at a single site. The 79-million-year-old “new” dinosaur, which grew to about 20 feet long, ...
