Japanese scientists recently identified a new dinosaur species from a nearly complete skeleton. This skeleton is now the largest ever that scientists discovered in the country. The skeleton measures eight metres (26 feet) long.

 

After analysing hundreds of bones dating back 72 million years, the team led Hokkaido University concluded the skeleton once belonged to a new species of hadrosaurid dinosaur. It is 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.

 

 

The team named the dinosaur “Kamuysaurus japonicus,” which means “Japanese dragon god,” according to a statement issued by the university.

 

They believe the dinosaur, aged nine years old, was an adult. They also believe it would have weighed either four tonnes or 5.3 tonnes. The weight depends on whether it walked on two legs or four.

 

The researchers published the discovery in British peer-reviewed journal “Scientific Reports”.

 

Team leader Yoshitsugu Kobayashi spoke about the discovery. “The fact a new dinosaur was discovered in Japan means there was once an independent world of dinosaurs in Japan or in East Asia, and an independent evolution process.”

 

 

Kamuysaurus japonicus probably lived in coastal areas. That is a rare habitat for dinosaurs at that time. The fossils also provide valuable insights into their environment.

 

The research raises the possibility that some species of dinosaurs “preferred to inhabit areas near the ocean”. It also suggests that “the coastline environment was an important factor in the diversification” of the dinosaurs in their early evolution.