Etchujima Inspiration

SANDA, Hyogo -- Horned dinosaur fossils have been found in Japan for the first time after they were discovered in a geological layer here, local officials have announced.

The Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, in Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture, said fossils of a horned dinosaur were discovered in the lower layer of the Sasayama group from the Early Cretaceous Period in the prefectural city of Sasayama. The lower layer dates back some 120 million to 140 million years.

Horned dinosaurs are among a group of large herbivorous dinosaurs including Triceratops that inhabited the North American Continent during the Late Cretaceous Period.

"The find is a precious resource for studying the evolution of dinosaurs in East Asia," said Haruo Saegusa, chief researcher at the museum. The fossils will be put on display at the museum from Saturday through Dec. 27.

The unearthed fossils are those of three jaw bones, including an upper jaw bone (42 millimeters long) with teeth and a front jaw bone (29 millimeters long). They were found almost in their entirety and bear such features as muscles on the surface of teeth.

The dinosaur is presumed to have walked on two legs and had short frills behind its head. It was likely to be a young dinosaur, with its body measuring an estimated 60 centimeters long. Fossils of similar types of dinosaurs have been discovered in five other places including China, and the latest find is close to the fossils of Archaeoceratops that were found in China's Gansu Province in 1992.

The Sasayama group geological layer, which straddles the Hyogo Prefecture cities of Sasayama and Tamba, is home to fossils of the nation's largest herbivorous dinosaur named Tambaryu, Tyrannosaurs and the nation's oldest mammalian fossils -- all unearthed since 2006.

"I had initially thought the fossils may be those of shellfish, such as shrimps or crabs, but I'm surprised to learn that they are of dinosaur bones," said Kiyoshi Adachi, 66, a former high school teacher who is one of the discoverers of the Tambaryu fossils and the latest find.

"I hope to find plant fossils and determine the climate back in those days," he added.

(Mainichi Japan) November 27, 2009