Regaliceratops

dinosaur · ceratopsid · alberta · cretaceous

Royal crown frill. Regaliceratops got its name because its frill looked like a crown, fitting for a dinosaur that weighed as much as an elephant. The frill had an impressive shape that made it stand out from other horned dinosaurs.

Smaller than you'd think. At 5 meters long (about 16 feet), Regaliceratops was about the size of a school bus, but much lighter at only 2 metric tons. This made it smaller than many other famous ceratopsids.

Famous skull named Hellboy. The only skeleton we've found is a nearly complete skull that scientists nicknamed "Hellboy" because of its unique look. This fossil was so important that it became the entire basis for naming the whole species.

Evolution's clever trick. Regaliceratops had features that looked like those of its distant cousins called centrosaurines, even though it wasn't directly related to them. This shows how different dinosaurs could evolve similar features independently, a process called convergent evolution.

Found in Alberta. This dinosaur lived in what is now Alberta, Canada, during the Late Cretaceous period in an ancient ecosystem called the St. Mary River Formation. Scientists discovered this fossil in rocks that preserve a lost world from millions of years ago.