Updated on Saturday, October 31, 2009, 19:43 IST Tags:Dinosaurs

Washington: Paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived 112 million years ago during the early Cretaceous of central Montana.

The new dinosaur, a species of ankylosaur – the biological version of an army tank -- are protected by a plate-like armour with two sets of sharp spikes on each side of the head, and a skull so thick that even "raptors" such as Deinonychus could leave barely more than a scratch.

A team, led by Bill and Kris Parsons of Buffalo Museum of Science, found much of the skull of the newly described Tatankacephalus cooneyorum resting on the surface of a hillside. Because the skull was 90 per cent complete, it was possible to justify this fossil as a new species.

"This is the first member of Ankylosauridae to be found within the Early Cretaceous Cloverly Geologic Formation," said Bill Parsons. The skull is heavily protected by two sets of lateral horns, two thick domes at the back, and smaller thickenings around the nasal region. "Heavy ornamentation and horn-like plates would have covered most of the dorsal surface of this dinosaur," he said.

In his new reconstruction, Parsons suggests that Tatankacephalus exhibited complex and colorful patterns rather than the dull appearance suggested in earlier ankylosaur portraits.

As to its name, the broad, short horns on the back of its skull resemble the horns found on a modern buffalo skull and Tatankacephalus loosely translates as "Buffalo head".

The findings have been documented in the latest issue of the 'Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences' journal.

Bureau Report