Sep 07 (Japan Times) - 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 meters long.
After analyzing hundreds of bones dating back 72 million years, the team led by Hokkaido University concluded 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 Mukawa, Hokkaido, in 2003 and later excavations revealed the entire skeleton. It was classified into the Hadrosaurus herbivorous dinosaur family in 2013.
In an article published Friday in the British journal Scientific Reports, the team made up researchers from Hokkaido University and other institutions said that it has given the dinosaur, called mukawaryu in Japanese, the scientific name Kamuysaurus japonicus, which means Japanese dragon god.
It is the eighth new dinosaur species found in Japan that has been given a scientific name.
