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Geologists first discovered the dinosaur's fossilized skull along Alberta's Oldman River in 2005, Reuters reports. The skull took some time to extract, though, as it was stuck tight within the limestone riverbank. Paleontologists are fascinated by the finally-freed skull, which features stubby, exotic horns around the facial area of the fossil.
Officially named Regaliceratops peterhewsi ("royal horned face" combined with the name of the geologist who discovered the skull, Peter Hews), "Hellboy" soon became the newly identified dinosaur's unofficial moniker due to its resemblance to the comic book character.
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"This new animal is definitely one of the weirdest horned dinosaurs," Caleb Brown of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology told Reuters. "How weird it is really only becomes fully apparent when you compare it to its close relatives, in which case it stands out like a sore thumb."
Poor Hellboy, still being singled out 68 million years after his entombment.
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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
