Big-nosed, horned-faced dinosaur unearthed in Utah

Researchers in Salt Lake City say fossil-hunters unearthed the bones of a new type of big-nosed, horned-faced dinosaur in southern Utah according to officials at the National History Museum of Utah.

A-reconstruction-of-a-Nasutoceratops-titusi-is-shown-during-a-news-conference-at-the-Natural-History-Museum-of-Utah-AP-Photo

Researchers in Salt Lake City say fossil-hunters unearthed the bones of a new type of big-nosed, horned-faced dinosaur in southern Utah.

The discovery of the creature named Nasutoceratops titusi was described on Wednesday in the British scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society and by officials at the National History Museum of Utah at the University of Utah.

The dinosaur was a wide-bodied plant-eater that grew to 15 feet (4.5 meters) long and weighed 2 1/2 tons (1.8 metric tons).

It's unique for its oversized nose and exceptionally long, forward-pointing curved horns over the eyes.

It's part of the same family as the well-known Triceratops.

The second part of the name recognises paleontologist Alan Titus for his years of research work in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument discovery area.