A new horned dinosaur, going on display in Utah, is altering how scientists think about evolution

Move over, triceratops — a new horned dinosaur has entered the scene.

A display of the Lokiceratops rangiformis, a freshly discovered species of horned dinosaur, was set to be unveiled Thursday at the Natural History Museum of Utah, ahead of the Salt Lake City museum’s annual fundraising gala. The public was scheduled to get its first look Friday.

The display at the museum — at 301 Wakara Way, on the University of Utah campus — includes a cast skull and a sculpture of what scientists estimate the impressive beast to have looked like when it was alive 78 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.

The original skeleton was discovered in Kennedy Coulee, in Montana near the Canadian border, and is maintained by the Museum of Evolution in Maribo, Denmark. NHMU’s replica is matched with one at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

This week’s unveiling at NHMU corresponded with the publication Thursday of the Lokiceratops discovery, co-authored by Mark Loewen, a paleontologist at the Utah museum.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mark Loewen, a paleontologist at The University of Utah, stands in front of two models of the new dinosaur being unveiled at the Natural History Museum of Utah at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Bethany Baker/)

The Lokiceratops’ skeleton is the first of its kind, but the fourth centrosaurine — a genetic group of horned dinosaurs — in the northern Montana region. Its discovery has scientists excitedly readjusting their understanding of the centrosaurine family tree and evolutionary patterns. Loewen said it is evidence that scientists have only scratched the surface of knowledge about horned dinosaurs.

According to Loewen, this concentration of a dinosaur species in a relatively small geographic location is unprecedented. He contextualized the discovery with a comparison: “You just wouldn’t expect to see five different species of elephant in the Serengeti.”

The variety of centrosaurines within a single ecosystem means that there was impressive genetic diversity within the family. Loewen estimated that scientists have identified only 1% of the centrosaurines that existed during the final 20 million years of the dinosaurs’ reign.

Such high diversity causes scientists to believe that centrosaurines evolved at a rapid pace, Loewen said. This rate of evolution is not yet observed in other regions or with other species, he explained.

The Lokiceratops will spur additional scientific efforts to understand centrosaurines, Loewen said — adding that their family tree is only just taking shape.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Mark Loewen, a paleontologist at The University of Utah, stands in front of models of the new dinosaur being unveiled at the Natural History Museum of Utah at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Bethany Baker/)

The Lokiceratops was formed like centrosaurine royalty. With 11,000 pounds of mass, it had the longest skull of its species group, and was crowned with an ornate horn pattern. Horns sat above its eyes and nose, freckled its cheeks, and lined the edge of its meter-long frill, which sat like a halo above its face. Two mismatched, imposing, blade-like horns extended from the sides of the frill. They are the largest horns ever found on a horned dinosaur from the time period.

Those unique features inspired the species’ name: Lokiceratops rangiformis translates to “Loki’s horned face” and “formed like a caribou” and paints an image of a blade-wielding Norse god with antlers. Loki, “the god of mischief” in Norse mythology, is also a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who often wears a helmet with high curved horns.

The Lokiceratops’ horn patterns are thought to act as a display structure to attract mates, Loewen said, adding that these mating behaviors may have created the hyper-evolution now surprising the scientific community.

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Replicas of various horned dinosaurs hang from the wall, representing the largest collection of horned dinosaurs in the world, at the Natural History Museum of Utah at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Bethany Baker/)

When the dinosaur walked the earth, northern Montana was a subtropical coastal plain covered with marshland, according to a release from NHMU. The giant most likely lived in a herd with others of its kind, using its more than 200 teeth to chew the plants on which it grazed.

As the most massive herbivore in the ecosystem, it would have spent much of its time eating in order to sustain its great size. It was surrounded by its fellow species of horned dinosaurs and other herbivorous duck-billed dinosaurs. It was likely prey to the Thanatotheristes, a tyrannosaurus nicknamed “reaper of death.”

The excavation of Lokiceratops’ bones began in 2019 under the guidance of Mark Eatman. Fossilogic LLC, a Utah company headed by Brock Sisson, was tasked with the crucial job of preparing and mounting the bones.

“Reconstructing the skull of Lokiceratops from dozens of pieces was one of the most challenging projects my team and I have ever faced,” said Sisson, “but the thrill of bringing a 78-million-year-old dinosaur to life for the first time was well worth the effort.”

(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Savhannah Carpenter, a paleontology student with The University of Utah, stands with two models of the new dinosaur being unveiled at the Natural History Museum of Utah at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Bethany Baker/)

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A new horned dinosaur, going on display in Utah, is altering how scientists think about evolution

A new horned dinosaur, going on display in Utah, is altering how scientists think about evolution

A new horned dinosaur, going on display in Utah, is altering how scientists think about evolution

A new horned dinosaur, going on display in Utah, is altering how scientists think about evolution

A new horned dinosaur, going on display in Utah, is altering how scientists think about evolution