Hellboy Dinosaur

A study published in the journal Current Biology reports that scientists have been successful in excavating the fossil of a dinosaur with unique facial structure and bones in Canada. The dinosaur has been dubbed ‘Hellboy’ because of its exotic set of facial horns and spines around the edge of the bony frill at the back of its skull.

The fossil which was discovered back in 2005 from a steep cliff along the Oldman River was completely excavated out of a hard limestone. It is believed to have been entombed since 68 million years. The expedition team nicknamed it Hellboy because the stubby bones above its eyes resembled the comic book character Hellboy. The official name however, is Regaliceratops peterhewsi; the first word means ‘royal horned face’ and the second word is an honour for Peter Hews; the geologist who discovered the fossil.

Regaliceratops lived during the Cretaceous period which formed a group of plant eaters. The dinosaur was similar in size to today’s rhinoceros and possessed a large conical horn over its nose. They are estimated to have been 5 metres long, 1.5 metres tall weighing about 1.5 tonnes.