British scientist discovers new dinosaur species
A British paleontologist has discovered a new species of dinosaur while studying fossils in a Canadian museum.
Dr Nick Longrich was examining fossilised bones from two horned dinosaurs, which had been kept in the Canadian Museum of Nature for 75 years.
ITV News reporter Ben Chapman has the story:
The fossils had previously been classified as Anchiceratops and Chasmosaurus, species known to be from Canada.
But after analysing the fossils, Dr Longrich realised they more closely resembled dinosaurs from the American south west.
One represents a new species of Pentaceratops, named Pentaceratops aquilonius - a buffalo-sized plant-eating dinosaur from around 75 million years ago.
The second appears to be a new species of Kosmoceratops, a dinosaur with an ornate skull from Utah, though more complete fossils are needed to confirm this.
Dr Longrich, from the University of Bath, said his find revealed dinosaur species from the region were much more diverse than previously though.
Pentaceratops was a smaller cousin of Triceratops, belonging to a group of large, horned dinosaurs with a long brow horn and elongate frills called the Chasmosaurinae.
The dinosaurs were based in western North America at the end of the Cretaceous Period, around 75 million years ago.
Dr Longrich's study appears in the academic journal Cretaceous Research.