Special Announcement

New Horned Dinosaur Identified by Museum Curator

Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D., curator and head of Vertebrate Paleontology at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, announces a new genus of horned dinosaur. Medusaceratops lokii was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived nearly 78 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Montana.

Approximately 20 feet long and weighing more than 2 tons, Medusaceratops had giant brow bones more than 3 feet long over each eye. It also displayed a large, shield-like frill off the back of its skull adorned with large curling hooks.

Fossilized bones of the dinosaur were discovered in a bonebed on private land located along the Milk River in North Central Montana and acquired by Canada Fossils Ltd., of Calgary, Alberta, in the mid-1990s. Ryan consulted with the company to identify material from the site.

Medusaceratops lokii means “Loki’s horned-faced Medusa,” referring to the thickened, snake-like hooks on the side of the frill. It was named after Loki, the Norse god of mischief, because the new dinosaur initially caused scientists some confusion.

The new dinosaur belongs to the Chasmosaurinae subfamily of the horned dinosaur family Ceratopsidae. The specimen is the first Campanian-aged chasmosaurine ceratopsid found in Montana. It is also the oldest known Chasmosaurine ceratopsid.

Ryan published his findings on the new genus in the book, “New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs: The Royal Tyrrell Museum Ceratopsian Symposium,” available from Indiana University Press. Ryan was the book’s lead editor.

News Release

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Media Coverage

Cleveland Plain Dealer
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