A new horned dinosaur has been discovered in Canada! Meet the Xenoceratops!
The dinosaur is a new species belonging to the ceratopsid (horned dinosaur) family. Scientists are calling this new dinosaur a Xenoceratops foremostensis. After researching the findings, it is said that the Xenoceratops weighed about 2 tons, was 20 feet long and existed about 80 million years ago, making this dinosaur one of the heaviest, oldest and largest horned dinosaurs known to any paleontologist!
Although this new species has just been discovered, the bones were actually found 54 years ago in southern Alberta. They were misidentified and only now have paleontologists found out that this is an entirely separate species. It’s a pretty important discovery, as these horned dinosaurs eventually gave rise to the well-known triceratops.
“Xenoceratops” means “alien-horned face.” This dinosaur was named this because of the obvious and elaborate horns surrounding his face. Despite the very intimidating horns, the Xenoceratops was actually a vegetarian like all ceratopsids. They used their horns for defense rather than as a weapon for hunting.
We think it’s pretty cool a new species of dinosaur has been discovered right in our home and native land! What do you think about this newly discovered Xenoceratops foremostensis?