Seventeen fossilized bones excavated in southwestern Japan have led to the identification of a completely new species of dinosaur, a relative of the famous Triceratops.
According to Sci-News, scientists have named the new dinosaur species Sasayamagnomus saegusai.
The fossil remains were discovered by amateur geologist Kiyoshi Adachi from the Ohyamashimo Formation in southwestern Japan.
Sasayamagnomus saegusai dinosaur from Japan – (Photo: Kanon Tanaka).
A total of 17 fossil pieces were excavated, most of which belonged to a single individual. They were analyzed by a research team led by Dr. Tomonori Tanaka, a paleontologist from Hyogo University (Japan).
Examination results indicate that this dinosaur was not fully grown and was a small creature, standing only 0.8 meters tall and weighing 10 kilograms.
It roamed our planet approximately 113 to 100 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period.
One of the most distinctive features of this dinosaur is its strange triangular head, along with several unique characteristics that set it apart from all known horned dinosaurs.
Results show that it belongs to the Ceratopsidae family, a lineage of dinosaurs with the most famous member being the Triceratops.
Sasayamagnomus saegusai is closely related to primitive horned dinosaurs found in North America, suggesting that this group of dinosaurs originally originated in Asia, with some species migrating to North America around 110 million years ago.
According to a publication in the scientific journal Papers in Palaeontology, during this period, the eastern part of the Eurasian continent and North America were connected by a “land bridge” known as Beringia, which spanned across what is now the Bering Sea, allowing animals to migrate between the two regions.
Additionally, severe global warming at that time led to the development of vast forests in the Arctic region.
The convergence of these two events may have facilitated the expansion of horned dinosaurs as well as many other dinosaur groups from Asia to North America.
