A magnificent dinosaur that lived 72 million years ago has been unearthed in Japan.
The crested creature is one of the best prehistoric fossils ever found – with virtually the entire remains perfectly preserved.
It includes the skull, jawbones, spine, ribs and teeth, plus the front and back legs.
Experts believe the discovery is globally significant because it shows Asia and the United States were joined by land in the age of dinosaurs.
Reconstruction of Kamuysaurus japonicus: The plant eater was more duck billed than most with a face like a shovel at the end of a long neck
Corresponding author Professor Yoshitsugu Kobayashi said: ‘It is rare and pretty astonishing to find an almost complete skeleton.
‘There is no doubt that this is the best preserved large dinosaur skeleton from Japan.’
It has been named Kamuysaurus japonicus after a spiritual being worshipped by people on Hokkaido Island, in northern Japan, where it was dug up.
The plant eater was more duck billed than most with a face like a shovel at the end of a long neck.
It was 26 feet (eight metres) long and weighed more than five tons. It was at least nine years old at the time of its death, making it a juvenile.
It had a thin, bony crest on its head – a feature of the hadrosaur family to which it belonged.
Kamuysaurus was a member of the species known as Edmontosaurus that roamed Earth during the Late Cretaceous. They inhabited North America with fossils found in places such as Montana, Nebraska and New Jersey.
Genetic analysis found it is closely related to the dinosaurs Kerberosaurus and Laiyangosaurus from Russia and China, respectively.
Comparing it with 70 other hadrosaurs also detected so many unique characteristics that it was identifed as a dinosaur completely new to science.
Its discovery in marine sediment adds to evidence that hadrosaurs, although spending most of their time on land, liked to live by water.
Preserved: The crested creature is one of the best prehistoric fossils ever found – with virtually the entire remains perfectly preserved. It includes the skull, jawbones, spine, ribs and teeth, plus the front and back legs
They were among the most successful and diverse group of dinosaurs. They were large bodied with stiff tails. They had specialised jaws and teeth that enabled them to grind down tough ferns and leaves. The front of the snout was flattened, like a duck’s bill.
They walked on all fours. Some had elaborate crests and other headgear, possibly for attracting mates.
Co author Dr Anthony Fiorillo, chief curator at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Texas, said: ‘This discovery is not only significant for the people of Hokkaido and all of Japan.
‘It has global significance because this dinosaur shows us how the world has been connected through time. Kamuysaurus is closely related to the animal we study from Alaska, Edmontosaurus, a duck-billed dinosaur also found throughout much of western North America.
‘Because these dinosaurs are so closely related, they provide further evidence that long ago, Asia and North America were connected.’
Holotype skeleton of Kamuysaurus japonicus: Reconstructed skeleton showing recovered elements in white. Its unique characteristics include the anterior inclination of neural spines of the sixth to twelfth dorsal vertebrae
Selected skull elements of Kamuysaurus japonicus: Its unique characteristics include the low position of the cranial bone notch and the short ascending process of the jaw bone
Known as the Bering Land Bridge, it ran between Siberia and Alaska. It has been described as ‘a dinosaur migration highway’.
The first 13 ribs of Kamuysaurus were stumbled upon by a local resident in 2003. They were originally thought to belong to a prehistoric sea creature called a plesiosaur.
It was only eight years later that it was identified as a dinosaur. So Prof Kobayashi’s team carried out two expeditions to the fossil site in 2013 and 2014.
While exploring the same hill, they came across so many more bones they were able to perform a total reconstruction.
The preparation has taken nearly a decade, with the help of a large number of volunteers. Many miscellaneous bones remain to be identified.
Dr Fiorillo added: ‘But the fossils clearly demonstrate this is a nearly complete skeleton including multiple skull elements and a nearly complete series of vertebrae and fore and hind limbs.’
WHAT KILLED THE DINOSAURS?
Around 65 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world’s species were obliterated.
This mass extinction paved the way for the rise of mammals and the appearance of humans.
The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
The asteroid slammed into a shallow sea in what is now the Gulf of Mexico.
The collision released a huge dust and soot cloud that triggered global climate change, wiping out 75 per cent of all animal and plan species.
Researchers claim that the soot necessary for such a global catastrophe could only have come from a direct impact on rocks in shallow water around Mexico, which are especially rich in hydrocarbons.
Within 10 hours of the impact, a massive tsunami waved ripped through the Gulf coast, experts believe.
Around 65 million years ago non-avian dinosaurs were wiped out and more than half the world’s species were obliterated. The Chicxulub asteroid is often cited as a potential cause of the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event (stock image)
This caused earthquakes and landslides in areas as far as Argentina.
But while the waves and eruptions were The creatures living at the time were not just suffering from the waves – the heat was much worse.
While investigating the event researchers found small particles of rock and other debris that was shot into the air when the asteroid crashed.
Called spherules, these small particles covered the planet with a thick layer of soot.
Experts explain that losing the light from the sun caused a complete collapse in the aquatic system.
This is because the phytoplankton base of almost all aquatic food chains would have been eliminated.
It’s believed that the more than 180 million years of evolution that brought the world to the Cretaceous point was destroyed in less than the lifetime of a Tyrannosaurus rex, which is about 20 to 30 years.
