A new species of dinosaur known as Mercuriceratops gemini has been discovered and named for its unusual skull shape.
A relative of the triceratops, Mercuriceratops gemini was probably about 20 feet long and was more than 2 tons in weight according to the Los Angeles Times .
The most recognizable characteristic of the Mercuriceratops gemini are the wing shaped protuberances that come off the bony frill on the skull of the dinosaur. These growths are reminiscent of the wings on the Roman messenger god Mercury‘s helmet, explaining the first part of the dinosaur’s classification.
In a release from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History Dr. Michael Ryan, Vertebrate paleontology curator at the museum provided a possible explanation for the structures. “Horned dinosaurs in North America used their elaborate skull ornamentation to identify each other and to attract mates—not just for protection from predators,” he said. “The wing-like protrusions on the sides of its frill may have offered male Mercuriceratops a competitive advantage in attracting mates.”
The gemini part of this new dinosaur’s name refers to the two specimens of the 77 million old dinosaur that were discovered separately in Montana and in Alberta, Canada according to the same report.
The original classification and the description of this new species comes from an online paper published by journal Naturwissenschaften.