New species of dinosaur discovered in Japan

Author: SOPHIE LEWIS/CBS NEWS Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published:
A fossilized skeleton of Kamuysaurus japonicus was first discovered in the Hobetsu district of Mukawa Town, Hokkaido, in 2013. Ensuing excavations found a nearly complete skeleton (above), currently the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Japan. (HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY)

A new kind of dinosaur has been unearthed in Japan, and it’s the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in the country. Researchers believe the bones help to explain the origin and evolution of dinosaurs in the region.

The dinosaur is a completely new genus and species of the plant-eating hadrosaur, which roamed the Earth in the late Cretaceous period, more than 65 million years ago. Its skeleton was discovered underneath 72-million-year-old marine deposits in the town of Mukawa, according to a study by Hokkaido University researchers, published in Scientific Reports.

The first remains of the dinosaur were found in 2013, when scientists uncovered a partial tail of the reptile. Further excavations found a nearly complete skeleton — the largest ever found in Japan.

The dinosaur was nicknamed Milawaryu, after the excavation site, but scientists later gave it a proper classification, Kamuysaurus japonicus, meaning the deity of Japanese dinosaurs.

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