New dinosaur species discovered in Japan
Hokkaido University professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi (L) and Mukawa town mayor Yoshiyuki Takenaka (R) pose with a replica of the skeleton of the hadrosaurid dinosaur ‘Kamuysaurus japonicus’ at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, Japan.
The ‘Kamuysaurus japonicus’ is the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Japan.
The team named the dinosaur “Kamuysaurus japonicus,” which means “Japanese dragon god,” according to a statement issued by the university.
Japanese scientists have identified a new species of dinosaur from a nearly complete skeleton that was the largest ever discovered in the country, measuring eight metres long.
After analysing hundreds of bones dating back 72 million years, the team led by Hokkaido University concluded that the skeleton once belonged to a new species of hadrosaurid dinosaur, a herbivorous beast that roamed the Earth in the late Cretaceous period.
A partial tail was first found in northern Japan in 2013 and later excavations revealed the entire skeleton.
They believe the dinosaur was an adult aged 9 and would have weighed either four tonnes or 5.3 tonnes – depending on whether it walked on two legs or four.
The discovery was published in British peer-reviewed journal “Scientific Reports.”
Photo: EPA-EFE/JIJI PRESS
