New dinosaur nicknamed 'Hellboy' after the comic book character

  • Science
The dinosaur is called Hellboy because of the difficulty scientists had in removing it from the rock and its unusual horns. Credit: Julius T. Csotonyi / Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta/PA Wire/ Reuters

A new species of horned dinosaur has been given the nickname "Hellboy", after the comic book character.

Regaliceratops peterhewsi has been unveiled for the first time since it was discovered a decade ago.

The beast lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 68.5 to 67.5 million years ago, researchers at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, in Canada, said.

A close relative of Triceratops, the fossil was found in a part of Canada where horned dinosaurs had not been found before and suggests an evolutionary link between two distinct groups of horned dinosaurs, the museum said.

The dinosaur is called Hellboy because of the difficulty scientists had in removing it from the rock and its unusual horns. Credit: Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta/PA Wire

Scientists gave the dinosaur the unusual moniker due to the difficulty collecting the specimen and for the challenging preparation process to remove it from the very hard rock in which it was encased.

It also has distinctive features - two stubby horns over the eyes and a long nose horn.

The dinosaur is called Hellboy because of the difficulty scientists had in removing it from the rock and its unusual horns. Credit: Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Drumheller, Alberta/PA Wire

The skull was discovered sticking out of a cliff by Calgary geologist Peter Hews, after whom it is named, in 2005 in south-eastern Alberta and has taken a decade to go on public display.