A 75-million-year-old dinosaur was a dead ringer for one of the monsters from the 1984 horror-comedy classic Ghostbusters. Fans of the film will no doubt remember Zuul, the demon that possesses Sigourney Weaver’s Dana Barrett after taking the form of a horned Terror Dog. It literally yells out its own name, if that helps you picture what we’re talking about. Here are some clips to bring you up to speed:
OK, so, it turns out scientists have discovered a real-life Terror Dog that they’ve appropriately named Zuul crurivastator. The dinosaur is said to be one of the most complete ankylosaurid specimens ever recovered and features a full skull, tail club, and soft tissues. Like its big-screen namesake, the species has a short, round snout, armored face, and even a pair of horns behind its eyes. On top of that, the fossil includes a large tail with a bony club and sharp spikes.
Scientists suspect that these creatures used their long tails to either hit potential predators in the legs or attack members of the same species while fighting over territory and/or mates. And in case you were wondering, the crurivastator part of its name is a nod to its anatomy, translating to “destroyer of shins.” A living specimen would’ve been 20 feet long and weighed over 5,000 pounds—which is roughly the same size as a white rhinoceros.
Zuul’s skeleton was excavated from the Judith River Formation near Havre, Montana, with skin impressions still visible on its tail and some of its scales and spikes also present. “The preservation of the fossil is truly remarkable. Not only is the skeleton almost completely intact, but large parts of the bony armor in the skin are still in its natural position,” said paleontologist David Evans, a curator at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada, who led the project.
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