| Scientists in Argentina just discovered the most metal creature of the Cretaceous: a small Brontosaurus relative with a mohawk-like frill of two-foot-long spines extending from its neck. They named the new species Bajadasaurus pronuspinax — a portmanteau of Spanish, Greek and Latin that means "lizard from Bajada with forward-bending spines" but conveniently also sounds a bit like "badass." In a paper about their discovery published Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers suggest that these strange, forward-sloping spines were used for self-defense. When the herbivorous dinosaur bent its neck too much on a plant, they write, "the vast group of acute spines with long protective sheaths would represent a disturbing fence for a loitering carnivore." Other members of the Bajadasaurus's family, a group called the dicraeosaurs, also boasted neck spines — though most were not bent so bizarrely — and scientists have suggested all kinds of uses for them. Perhaps they supported a "thermoregulatory sail" that helped the dinosaurs dissipate extra heat? Or maybe the dinos boasted a padded crest aimed at impressing members of the opposite sex? The neck structure could have harbored extra fat stores, or the spines could even be the cores of bony horns. There is one modern species with forward pointing neck spines, the Atlantic pointed out. The potto, a small African primate, has been observed using the blunt spines on its neck vertebrae as a "shield" when threatened. "Loitering carnivores," consider yourselves officially on notice. | 
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