Scientists have discovered a new dinosaur species with a giant nose that roamed the Earth approximately 75 million years ago, but the function of its distinctive nasal profile still remains a mystery.
The new dinosaur, named Rhinorex condrupus, meaning "King Nose," was discovered by paleontologists from North Carolina State University and Brigham Young University.
The hadrosaur lived in what is now Utah approximately 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.
Rhinorex was a plant-eater and a close relative of other Cretaceous hadrosaurs like Parasaurolophus and Edmontosaurus.
Hadrosaurs are usually identified by bony crests that extended from the skull, although Edmontosaurus doesn't have such a hard crest (paleontologists have discovered that it had a fleshy crest).
Rhinorex also lacks a crest on the top of its head; instead, this new dinosaur has a huge nose.
Terry Gates, a joint postdoctoral researcher with NC State and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, and colleague Rodney Sheetz from the Brigham Young Museum of Paleontology, came across the fossil in storage at BYU.
First excavated in the 1990s from Utah's Neslen formation, Rhinorex had been studied primarily for its well-preserved skin impressions. When Gates and Sheetz reconstructed the skull, they realised that they had a new species.
"We had almost the entire skull, which was wonderful but the preparation was very difficult. It took two years to dig the fossil out of the sandstone it was embedded in - it was like digging a dinosaur skull out of a concrete driveway," Gates said.
Based on the recovered bones, Gates estimates that Rhinorex was about 30-feet-long and weighed over 3,855 kg.
"The purpose of such a big nose is still a mystery. If this dinosaur is anything like its relatives then it likely did not have a super sense of smell; but maybe the nose was used as a means of attracting mates, recognising members of its species, or even as a large attachment for a plant-smashing beak," Gates said.
