Flamboyant dinosaur with elaborate orange horns hailed as a 'sexy beast' by researchers is discovered in the ancient swamps of Montana

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What connects flamboyant dressing, the Norse god Loki and ancient reptiles?

Surprisingly, scientists say the answer is a newly discovered horned dinosaur that roamed the swamps of Montana 78 million years ago. 

Lokiceratops rangiformis – which loosely means 'Loki’s horned face that looks like a caribou’ – sported some of the biggest and most flamboyant horns of any dinosaur.

And, at 27ft (6.7m) long and weighing 11,000lbs (5 tonnes), scientists say this 'sexy beast' is the biggest horned dinosaur ever found in North America.

But according to the dino's co-discoverer Professor Mark Loewen of the University of Utah, this plant-eater would have been a non-violent 'gentle giant'. 

Scientists have discovered an enormous horned dinosaur whose flamboyant horns have lead its discoverers to dub it a 'sexy beast'

Lokiceratops rangiformis, which loosely means 'Loki’s horned face that looks like a caribou’, is named after the Norse tricker god's horns and curved blades as popularised by Tom Hiddleston in the Marvel cinematic universe 

Professor Loewen and his co-lead-author Joseph Sertich of Colorado State University found Lokiceratops in the badlands of Northern Montana.

Just two miles south of the Canadian border, the pair discovered fragments of an enormous skull buried in the rock.

By piecing together fragments of bone smaller than dinner plates, the pair managed to assemble the complete skull of an undiscovered species.

Lokiceratops rangiformis is a member of the horned dinosaurs called ceratopsians which includes the triceratops.

However, this new frilled dinosaur emerged 12 million years before its more famous relative emerged on the scene and sported a host of unique features.

Professor Loewen told MailOnline: 'It was the most massive ceratopsian to have ever evolved by the time it lived, and possessed the longest skull of any land animal that ever had lived up to 78 million years ago.'

That massive skull is topped by two massive curved blade-like horns as well as an asymmetrical horn in the centre resembling caribou antlers.   

These unusual features combined to give Lokiceratops rangiformis its unusual name. 

Researchers found the remains of the new dinosaur in what is now Northern Montana, just two miles South of the Canadian border 

Lokiceratops had the longest skull of any animal that had ever lived up until 78 million years ago when it roamed the plains of Northern Montana 

Archaeologists were able to assemble the skull from fragments the size of a dinner plate or smaller 

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Professor Loewen says: 'The dinosaur now has a permanent home in Denmark, so we went with a Norse god, and in the end, doesn't it just really look like Loki with the curving blades?'

But those impressive horns weren't all about violence, as Professor Loewen suggests they might have been brightly coloured and patterned. 

Professor Loewen told MailOnline: 'We speculate that it had brightly colored horns because we think the horns were used as sexual displays to attract mates.' 

Frills and horns are common to the family of dinosaurs called ceratopsids and would have been a significant deterrent to any would-be predators. 

The researchers suggest that the dinosaur's massive horns and blades may have served a similar purpose to birds' colourful plumage - helping to attract mates and recognise other members of the species 

The researchers suggest that the sheer size and diversity of ceratopsid frill suggests they may have served a social purpose. 

Co-author Dr Sertich says: 'We think that the horns on these dinosaurs were analogous to what birds are doing with displays, they're using them either for mate selection or species recognition.'

He adds: 'These skull ornaments are one of the keys to unlocking horned dinosaur diversity and demonstrate that evolutionary selection for showy displays contributed to the dizzying richness of Cretaceous ecosystems.'

Importantly the skull of Lokiceratops was found in a layer of rock where four other horned dinosaurs had previously been found.

This suggests that multiple distinct species would have been living alongside each other in the swamps and coastal plains of Eastern Laramidia, the western landmass of North America.

Lokiceratops (top left) was found in a layer of rock containing three other different species from the same family (pictured). This suggests they all lived together in a small geographic area

This map shows the geological region in which the new dinosaur was discovered. You can see the location of Lokiceratops highlighted with the yellow star

Lokiceratops was one of several horned dinosaurs that lived in the Eastern part of Laramidia, the western landmass of North America. Their locations and time periods are shown on this diagram

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Just like birds, these horned dinosaurs evolved rapidly and in a small area and developed a diverse range of colourful displays. 

Dr Sertich says: 'It's unheard-of diversity to find five living together, similar to what you would see on the plains of East Africa today with different horned ungulates.'

However, 12 million years later when the Triceratops first emerged, these distinct groups had homogenised into just two species. 

The researchers say this discovery gives us an insight into the incredible diversity of the iconic horned dinosaurs and their complex evolutionary history.

Professor Loewen concludes: 'Lokiceratops helps us understand that we only are scratching the surface when it comes to the diversity and relationships within the family tree of horned dinosaurs.'