Bizarre New Dinosaur Species Found in Utah

[Turborama]

Source: AOL News

Scientists say they've found two new dinosaur species in Utah that are among the most bizarre and blinged out ever discovered.

The Utah reptiles belong to the horned-dinosaur family, which is known for outlandish anatomy, and are wowing seasoned fossil hunters. Even the three-horned triceratops, the most familiar horned dinosaur, looks like the no-frills model compared with the newcomers.

The species named Kosmoceratops had 15 horns decorating its massive head, giving it the most elaborate dinosaur headdress known to science. At 15 feet long, it was larger than a Ford Fiesta. Its name means "ornate horned-face" in Latin.

The Utahceratops was adorned with unusual short horns that stuck out to the side like a bison's. It was roughly 20 feet long and weighed 3 to 4 tons, as much as a large pickup truck. Its name is Latin for "Utah horned-face."

Read more: http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/bizarre-new-dinosaur-species-found-in-utah/19644271

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New horned dinosaurs discovered
A bizarre dinosaur with a ''crown of horns'' has been discovered by scientists.

Source: Telegraph

Published: 5:20PM BST 22 Sep 2010


Kosmoceratops used their impressive armaments to find mates
rather than take on predators Photo: PA

Kosmoceratops richardsoni was a cousin of the famous Triceratops, but instead of just three horns it had 15. Horns sprouted from its nose, above each eye, and out of its cheeks. In addition, the creature had a bony frill adorned with an extraordinary array of 10 horns.

Dr Scott Sampson, from the Utah Museum of Natural History in the US, said: "Kosmoceratops is one of the most amazing animals known, with a huge skull decorated with an assortment of bony bells and whistles."

He thought it likely that horned dinosaurs such as Kosmoceratops used their impressive armaments to find mates rather than take on predators such as Tyrannosaurus rex.

"Most of these bizarre features would have made lousy weapons to fend off predators," he said. "It's far more likely that they were used to intimidate or do battle with rivals of the same sex, as well as to attract individuals of the opposite sex."

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/dinosaurs/8018505/New-horned-dinosaurs-discovered.html



This is how Faux news are reporting it. Expect multiple reports of exploding heads all over America shortly...

Amazing Horned Dinosaurs Found on 'Lost Continent'
Published September 22, 2010 | FoxNews.com

On a "Lost Continent" that once covered much of the land now occupied by the U.S., paleontologists have discovered fossils of two new dinosaur species, relatives of the famed Triceratops.

The new Kosmoceratops has five times as many horns on its head as its cousin, making it the most ornately adorned dinosaur known to man. It and the larger-bodied, five-horned Utahceratops were giant plant-eaters that lived in "Laramidia" -- a continent formed when a shallow sea flooded the central region of North America, isolating the eastern and western portions of the continent for millions of years during the Late Cretaceous Period.

=snip=

Scott Sampson, the paper's lead author, claimed that, "Kosmoceratops is one of the most amazing animals known, with a huge skull decorated with an assortment of bony bells and whistles."

For most of the Late Cretaceous period, tens of millions of years ago, exceptionally high sea levels flooded the low-lying portions of several continents around the world. In North America, a warm, shallow sea called the Western Interior Seaway extended from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, subdividing the continent into eastern and western landmasses, known as Appalachia and Laramidia.

Whereas little is known of the plants and animals that lived on Appalachia, the rocks of Laramidia exposed in the Western Interior of North America have generated a plethora of dinosaur remains. Laramidia was less than one-third the size of present day North America, approximating the area of Australia.

Full article: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/22/amazing-horned-dinosaurs-lost-continent/

[aquart]

1. And it was adorable! Look at that cute face!

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. There is something of the warthog about it ...

[SpeechlessDem]

10. Dinosaurs never existed

It's all an atheist conspiracy
there are no mentions of Dinosaurs in the bible.

all those bones found throughout the planet are planted by left-wing atheist extremists.

LOL LOL LOL

[Brother Buzz]

21. There's no mention of black helicopters in the bible either, but both exist

I witnessed this event.

[aquart]

12. So much prettier than a warthog.

Cuddlier.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Oh, how could you!

:cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWenRlN-sjI

Laura Flanders' father would never forgive you:

The Jungle was giving a party
A post hibernation ball
The Ballroom was crowded with waltzing Gazelles, Gorillas and Zebras and all.
But who is that animal almost in tears
Pretending to powder her nose?
A poor little Warthog who sits by herself
In a pink satin with blue bows.
Again she is no-body's choice and she sings in a sad little voice:

No one ever wants to court a Warthog
Though a Warthog does her best
I've spent a lot of money for a Warthog
I am perfumed and prettily dressed
I've lustrinsed my hair
I'm perfumed here and there
My gums were tinted when I brushed my teeth
I'm young and in my prime
But a wallflower all the time
'Cos I'm a Warthog
Just a Warthog
I'm a Warthog underneath

Take your partners for a ladies Excuse me!

Excited and radiant she runs on the floor
To join the furor and fuss.
She taps on each shoulder and says 'Excuse me!'
and each couple replied 'Excuse us!'
Then having no manners at all
They sing as they dance round the hall:

'No one ever wants to court a Warthog
Though a Warthog does her best
Her accessories are dazzling for a Warthog
She is perfumed and daringly dressed
We know her these and those are like Marilyn Monroe's
Her gown is just a scintillating sheath
But she somehow fails to please
'Cos everybody sees she's a Warthog
Just a Warthog
She's a Warthog underneath'

Head hanging she wanders away from the floor
This Warthog whom nobody loves
Then stops in amazement
For there at the door stands a gentleman Warthog impeccably dressed
In the act of removing his gloves.
His fine chiseled face seems to frown
As he looks her first up then down

'I fancy you must be a sort of Warthog
Though for a Warthog you look a mess
That make-up's far to heavy for a Warthog;;
You could have chosen a more suitable dress
Did you have to dye your hair?
If that's perfume give me air!
I strongly disapprove of scarlet teeth
But let us take the floor
'Cause I'm absolutely sure
That you're a Warthog
Just a Warthog
The sweetest little,
Neatest little
Dearest and completest little
Warthog ... underneath'.

[roguevalley]

32. All that is missing are the pearls! I love dinosaurs.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Neat looking guy!

[MineralMan]

4. Not so strange. Little kids have enjoyed these smaller varieties

for a very long time:



Now that I'm tall and not playing around on the ground, I don't see them so much anymore. In California, where I lived until 6 years ago, I wondered why I wasn't seeing them so much. So, I asked an 8-year-old boy who lived across the street from me if he had seen any. He said, "Sure. You want one?" I said that I wouldn't mind seeing one and holding it again. About an hour later, the kid showed up with one.

So, I guess they haven't disappeared. It's just that grownups just can't see them any longer.

[4_TN_TITANS]

22. Neat pics... might this be a small cousin to the fossil?

[MineralMan]

24. Probably not, but the horns are parallel structures.

I don't really know the relationship between horned lizards and prehistoric reptiles. Iguanas also have horny protrusions. It's probably just a coincidence, and nothing is said about such a relationship anywhere I've looked. But horns are pretty cool and lots of animals have developed them for defense or as a sexual display.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Lizards and dinosaurs aren't particularly closely related

All Birds and crocodiles are closer relatives to dinosaurs than any lizard. Birds and crocodiles are part of a group called the 'archosaurs', and you have to go a little further back than that to get a common ancestor with lizards and snakes (which are part of a larger group called 'diapsids'), and a little more for turtles.

See, for instance, http://tolweb.org/Diapsida/14866 and http://tolweb.org/Amniota/14990 (the 2nd link also shows where mammals join the family tree).

[Blue Owl]

5. Oh, it's just God trying to trick us with his fossil hijinks again

Let's consult Christine O'Donnell and Sarah Palin to set the record straight.

:sarcasm:

[Plucketeer]

6. That cool "Doo"

That twinkling eye (I'll bet it can blink too!) - gotta be one of Palin's progenitors. Doesn't she hail from that general locale???

[Hepburn]

7. They found Orrin Hatch???

Did not know he was lost...:evilgrin:

[Uncle Joe]

8. Fascinating.

Thanks for the thread, Turborama.

[peace13]

9. I read about this one in the Bible! n/t

[windowpilot]

26. Me too,

it was in the Uber New Testament.

[Chulanowa]

11. It's the Herpderposaurus!

[JDPriestly]

13. Sure puts unicorns to shame!

[No Elephants]

14. So, Utah has always been home to the bizarre multiple hornies?

[Aslanspal]

15. If this was alive today Trophy hunters and Poachers would kill it off

The dark ages of trophy hunting and poaching for some magical horn would kill these off if they happened to live now.

[Turborama]

16. Bigger Picture

Courtesy of this Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/22/horniest-dinosaur-kosmoceratops-utah#">Horniest dinosaur ever discovered – Kosmoceratops – found in Utah

[Alcibiades]

18. It's the Biebersaurus!

[COLGATE4]

19. They should name it the "Orinhatchesaurus". n/t

[skoalyman]

20. its got double handle bars would make a cool ride n/t

[sakabatou]

23. So a triceratops with a mushroom cut.

[musicblind]

25. At this point in time there is still no telling what is really out there.

Or has been out there before us, or what will come to be after us.

The world truly is a magical place.

[snooper2]

33. Actually we have a pretty good idea..

the last 100 years has gleamed a wealth of knowledge...

Of course most humans are simpletons with their religulous- but over time that will change as well. (100's-1000's of years)

[Psephos]

27. Headline shoulda been: Scientists Discover World's Horniest Dinosaur. n/t

[Odin2005]

28. Very cool!

[TheWatcher]

29. Did it look anything like this?

Or this?

[InvisibleTouch]

30. Probably more than one function to all that ornamentation.

It might be a mating display (but you'd have to have enough fossil individuals to compare males and females, because if the horns are mainly for sexual selection, then one gender will have more excessive horns than the other), but there's no doubt there's a predator deterrent function too. Evolution likes multi-tasking. :)