Business, Economics and Jobs

Nasutoceratops dinosaur had horns and a very big nose

Nasutoceratops, the new dinosaur species discovered in Utah, likely had a large nose and horns like a bull, according to a new study.

The newly-discovered species is said to have been about 15-feet long and was a member of the triceratops family.

They would have weighed about 2.5 tons and lived in a a swampy, subtropical area known as “Laramidia.”

Despite its very big nose, the dinosaur did not make up for it with a heightened sense of smell.

The odd arrangement of its face would have meant that the Nasutoceratops would have looked much like a very scary and angry cow.


The fossils were found in Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument area in 2006.

They date back to the Late Cretaceous period, a period that looked dramatically different geographically than what we know today. Indeed, at the time North America would have been divided by a sea.

Even researchers were bemused by its appearance.

"The horns are by far the absolute largest of any member of its group of dinosaurs - they curve sideways and forwards," said Mark Loewen of the University of Utah.



More from GlobalPost: Broken tooth in dino tail 'proves' T. rex was predator