It’s Not 'Jurassic World': Scientists May Have Actually Discovered a New Dinosaur

Impact

We may not have until the debut of Jurassic World to see a new dinosaur species.

No need to panic, though, chaos mathematicians. This new dinosaur, Pentaceratops aquilonius, wouldn't terrorize amusement parks if it were brought back to life: It was a vegetarian only the size of a buffalo.

Skynews

Nick Longrich of the University of Bath discovered Pentaceratops aquilonius while idly examining stored dinosaur bones at the Canadian Museum of Nature. When studying the bones, Longrich realized they had been misclassified. Ultimately, he determined the bones belonged to a completely new breed of Pentaceratops, a dinosaur genus very similar to the famous Triceratops. Pentaceratops aquilonius and the other Pentaceratops species roamed western North America 75 million years ago, toward the end of the Cretaceous period.

"We thought we had discovered most of the species, but it seems there are many undiscovered dinosaurs left," Longrich told Sky. "The total dinosaur diversity must have been extraordinarily high. We've really only just scratched the surface."

Longrich also believes the variety in dinosaurs came from them migrating across their home continents and adapting to their new environments.

Sky reports Longrich may have also discovered another new dinosaur among the bones, a different species of Kosmoceratops, which the Guardian once jokingly referred to as "the horniest dinosaur ever" due to the many horns on its head. However, we'll need more fossils -- or, of course, live specimens -- to confirm this.