Thursday, July 08, 2010

Smashing, Baby!

Mojoceratops, International Chasmosaurine of Mystery

Nick Longrich describes a new chasmosaurine ceratopsid in the new issue of the Journal of Paleontology: Mojoceratops. It's name means exactly what you think it does, and Nick thought the name up over pints in a pub. Brilliant. It's about time somebody invoked soul when it comes to naming ceratopsids, what with their billboard frills and fancy horns.

Congrats to Nick, and I absolutely LOVE his illustration. I actually love Nick's dinosaur pictures generally. They're almost-but-not-quite cartoonish: they get the point across, but they have character. Don't know about the snow, though. Was it snowing in southern Alberta during the Late Cretaceous?

2010 really is the Year of the Ceratopsian.

1 comment:

stan said...

love the comment about the snow. However, snow conjures up a romantic ideal. Maybe the word "romantic" is a poor choice of word to use with a ceratopsian one-horn :-/