Jo Dee Black

jblack@greatfallstribune.com

Scientists in Toronto named a newly identified dinosaur that was found in Montana after a monster from the original “Ghostbusters” film.

The Royal Ontario Museum says it acquired the skeleton of Zuul crurivastator last year. The name references Zuul, a dog-like monster that terrorizes characters played by Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis in the 1984 movie. The museum says scientists picked the name Zuul based on the features of its head, which includes a short, rounded snout and prominent horns behind the eyes.

The skeleton of the armored dinosaur was excavated from the Judith River Formation along the Milk River near Havre.

Scientists say it’s one of the best preserved ankylosaurs ever found, with a complete skull and tail club and preserved soft tissues.

“It’s a once in the lifetime fossil find, with so much soft tissue preservation all over,” said Victoria Arbour, a post doctoral fellow with the Royal Ontario Museum Department of Natural History. “In order to have soft tissue preserved, it was buried quickly, entombed when the animal was still whole.”

The Zuul found near Havre is about 75 million years old, although analysis of volcanic ash that was just above where the fossil was found will help scientists narrow down the age even more, said Arbour.

Northcentral Montana was a much different place 75 million years ago, she said.

“It was not the dry plains that it is today, it was a coastal environment, close to the ocean, with subtropical conditions similar to modern day Louisiana or Florida,” Arbour said. “We’ve found fossils of turtles and crocodiles and plants in the same area that help create a nice pictures of what the ecosystem was like.”

The Zuul was a plant eater, with a short, boxy face and a beak. Its armor was probably used as a defense from getting eaten by other animals but may have had other uses.

“For example, in crocodiles, we know that their armor is used to store calcium for its eggs and maybe to maintain body heat. We don’t know for sure what the ankylosaur used its armor for, but we look at modern animals and take a guess.”

So why a “Ghostbusters” name?

Arbour said she and her co-worker David Evans grew up with “Ghostbusters” the kind of movie that just sticks with you.

“When we decided we had enough evidence to call the fossil a new species, David said it looked like Zuul and once that word was said, it stuck,” Arbour said.