Paleontologists have unearthed a new dinosaur species, a huge horned plant-eater, in southern Utah, according to a Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) press release.

The new dinosaur, named Nasutoceratops, belonged to the same family as the Triceratops and lived during the Late Cretaceous period. It was estimated to have weighed 2.5 tons and measured 15 feet in length, with horns similar to a cow's.

The study's findings were announced Wednesday in the British scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The Bureau of Land Management and the National Science Foundation primarily funded the study, lead by Scott Sampson, of the University of Utah.

"The jumbo-sized schnoz of Nasutoceratops likely had nothing to do with a heightened sense of smell - since olfactory receptors occur further back in the head, adjacent to the brain - so the function of this bizarre feature remains uncertain," Sampson, who is now with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, said in a statement.

The horns and the "schnoz," or nose, was likely used to intimidate other members of the same gender and also to attract members of opposite gender.

"The amazing horns of Nasutoceratops were most likely used as visual signals of dominance and, when that wasn't enough, as weapons for combatting rivals," Mark Loewen, a researcher at the Natural History Museum of Utah, said.

Nasutoceratops means "big-nosed horned face" and paleontologists have long speculated other uses for the enlarged nose. While attracting mate is the prevailing idea, other guesses include controlling body heat, predator defense and recognizing members of the same species.

The dinosaur likely inhabited Laramidia, a region of central North America formed when a shallow sea flooded the landmass, isolating the western and eastern portions.

"Today, thanks to an abundant fossil record and more than a century of collecting by paleontologists, Laramidia is the best-known major landmass for the entire Age of Dinosaurs, with dig sites spanning from Alaska to Mexico," a NHMU statement said.

(The author of this article fixed an error calling mistaking "archaeologists" for "paleontologists")