--- ---  # Scientists Have Discovered a New Dinosaur That Had Weird Frilly Protrusions on Its Head by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 19, 2014 7:01 AM UTC  The Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta is one of the most important fossil beds in the world The Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta is one of the most important fossil beds in the worldEye Ubiquitous—UIG via Getty Images by [Melissa Hellmann](https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Jun 19, 2014 7:01 AM UTC Paleontologists have [discovered](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/weird-science/say-hello-horned-dinosaur-wings-its-head-n135116) a new genus of ceratopsian — that’s a horned dinosaur — named _Mercuriceratops gemini_ in Montana’s Judith River Formation and Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park. The 77-million-year-old species has been named _Mercuriceratops —_ Latin for horned-face Mercury — because of frilled, winglike bones on the side of its head that resemble the winged helmet of Mercury, the Roman messenger god. The second part of its name, _gemini,_ or Latin for twin, refers to the fact that the skulls found in Montana and Alberta were identical. _Mercuriceratops gemini_, a relative of the well-known triceratops, was a 2-ton, 6-ft.-tall (1.82 m) plant eater from the late Cretaceous Period. The discovery of the two species with identical features proves that these dinosaurs were a distinct genus and not a mutation of a previously discovered species. The journal _Naturwissenschaften_ [described](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00114-014-1183-1) the creatures’ uniquely shaped horns as an atypical feature that differentiated it from all other known species. “_Mercuriceratops_ shows that evolution gave rise to much greater variation in horned-dinosaur headgear than we had previously suspected,” co-author David Evans [said](https://www.cmnh.org/Mercuriceratops) in a statement. The protrusions are thought to have [served](http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-new-dinosaur-mercuriceratops-triceratops-20140618-story.html) as protection and could have been a sexually advantageous adaption that attracted mates. The discovery of the new species is the latest find in the Southern Alberta Dinosaur Project, which aims to study the evolution and movement of dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous Period. “This discovery of a previously unknown species in relatively well-studied rocks underscores that we still have many more new species of dinosaurs to left to find,” co-author Mark Loewen said. New Dinosaur Species Mercuriceratops Gemini Had Winglike Horns ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2898309/ceratopsians-dinosaurs-mercuriceratops-gemini/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2898309/ceratopsians-dinosaurs-mercuriceratops-gemini/"},"headline":"Scientists Have Discovered a New Dinosaur That Had Weird Frilly Protrusions on Its Head","datePublished":"2014-06-19T07:01:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:30:08.110Z","description":"A team of paleontologists has discovered a new kind of horned dinosaur","url":"https://time.com/2898309/ceratopsians-dinosaurs-mercuriceratops-gemini/","keywords":["Paleontology","dinosaurs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt615c11b94550faee/6986983cf983e75dec04e75f/481594431.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt615c11b94550faee/6986983cf983e75dec04e75f/481594431.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks UNESCO World Heritage Site","caption":"Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks UNESCO World Heritage Site","creditText":"Eye Ubiquitous—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/paleontology/","name":"Paleontology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2898309/ceratopsians-dinosaurs-mercuriceratops-gemini/","name":"Scientists Have Discovered a New Dinosaur That Had Weird Frilly Protrusions on Its Head"}}]}] ```