Lord of the skinks

New prehistoric lizard is named after 'goblin prince' from Hobbit

- BY STEPHEN BEECH

A NEWLY discovered armoured lizard that lived in the dinosaur era has been named after a villain in JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Bolg amondol was a “goblin prince” among dinosaurs around 78million years ago, scientists say.

They said the discovery of the fossilised bones of the raccoon-sized species reveal the “complex” evolutionary history of giant Gila monster relatives that roamed prehistoric tropical forests in present-day USA.