It was more of a leg buster, but scientists have named a spiky, tank-like dinosaur that wielded a sledge-hammer tail after the fanciful beast Zuul from the blockbuster film "Ghostbusters" that menaced Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and friends.
The scientists on Tuesday described fossils unearthed in the northern Montana badlands of the four-legged, plant-eating dinosaur called Zuul crurivastator that was about 20 feet (6 meters) long, weighed 2-1/2 tons and lived 75 million years ago.
Zuul belonged to a group of Cretaceous Period dinosaurs called ankylosaurs that were among the most heavily armored land animals ever. They were clad in bony armor from the snout to the end of the tail, often with spikes and a tail club that could be used to smash the legs of predators like the Tyrannosaurus rex cousin Gorgosaurus that lived alongside Zuul.