Pronunciation: ree-guh-li-seh-ruh-tops
Meaning: Royal Horned Face
Author/s: Brown and Henderson (2015)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Alberta, Canada
Discovery Chart Position: #897
Regaliceratops peterhewsi
Palaeontologists were cock-a-hoop when Peter Hews discovered the snout of Regaliceratops sticking out of a cliff about a meter above Alberta's Oldman river. But it was in a nightmarish position close to a protected Bull Trout spawning site encased in fortified siltstone, and that, plus the presence of a pair of brow horns, earned it the justifiable nickname of "Hellboy".
Regaliceratops is a chasmosaurine: the ceratopsids (horned faced dinosaurs) that are reknowned for their long postorbital (brow) horns, short nasal (snout) horn, and plain neck frill. But it sports a long snout horn, short brow horns and a flamboyant frill, typical of the other branch of ceratopsids known as centrosaurines.
Regaliceratops is a chasmosaurine: the ceratopsids (horned faced dinosaurs) that are reknowned for their long postorbital (brow) horns, short nasal (snout) horn, and plain neck frill. But it sports a long snout horn, short brow horns and a flamboyant frill, typical of the other branch of ceratopsids known as centrosaurines.
(Peter Hews' Royal Horned Face)Etymology
Regaliceratops is derived from the Latin "regalis" (royal—referrring to both its crown-shaped frill and the Tyrrell Museum of
Palaeontology, which became the Royal Tyrell Museum after a visit from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1990) and the Greek "ceratops" (horned face). The species epithet, peterhewsi, honors Peter Hews, who discovered the holotype.
ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DBCD3C5A-3761-4F51-A611-22CB49EC1C7B.
Discovery
The remains of Regaliceratops were discovered in the St. Mary River Formation at Waldron Flats, along the bank of the Oldman River, approximately
164 km south of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by Peter Hews in 2005.
The holotype (TMP) 2005.055.0001) is an almost complete (but crushed and distorted) skull, missing the lower jaw.
Preparators
Darren Tanke.
