With the announcement of two new species of horn-faced (Ceratopsian) dinosaurs!
Meet Mexico's own Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna.
And his Canadian pal:
Medusaceratops lokii
See my Blue Triceratops Head logo up at the top of the page? As you probably didn’t know (and probably didn’t want to), his name’s Ol’ Horny. From this you might correctly infer:
1) That I’ve been a colossal dinosaur geek since early childhood.
2) That Triceratops horridus is my favorite dinosaur.
Also, that I have no sense of propriety. I trust you figured that out on your own.
Anyway, I like Ceratopsians. And while Triceratops is the King of the Ceratopsians, it tickles me when not one but two new species are admitted into the Dinosaur Pantheon.
Coahuilaceratops magnacuerna is described, a bit uncharitably, as “tubby.” He’s also credited with having the longest horns of any Ceratopsian, so I guess that’s something. Maybe he’s, you know, compensating.
What could be cooler? You know I’m gonna tell you!
Did you remember to hover your mouse over that second handsome dude (or dudette) up there? I always have mouseover text for my blog images, a trick I swiped from xkcd.
So anyway, I wasn’t joking about Medusaceratops lokii having the geekiest name of anything ever. Clearly, both names are mythological references. But that’s not where the ultimate geek factor comes in.
To start with, the first part of the name comes from the Medusa in Ray Harryhausen‘s original Clash of the Titans. The second name derives, not just from Loki the Norse god, but Loki the Marvel Comics supervillain.
It just doesn’t get any cooler than that.
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