Fossil Found In Fukushima 40 Years Ago Belonged To A Rare Dinosaur

A fossilized bone unearthed some 40 years ago in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, and long thought to be from a reptile has turned out to be part of an herbivorous dinosaur, Naohiro Koenuma reported for Mainichi Japan.

Photo Insert: The fossil that has been identified as part of the thighbone of an ornithopod dinosaur.

The Fukushima Museum in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, announced on Feb. 5 that the fossil found in a stratum dating back about 86 million years to the Cretaceous period -- the last in the age of the dinosaurs -- is an ornithopod dinosaur's thighbone.

A group of researchers including the museum's curator Junki Yoshida, 30, made the discovery and estimated that the bone belonged to an about 1-meter-long ornithopod. This is the first time that a fossil from the ornithopod group of dinosaurs dating from the Cretaceous period has been identified in Japan.

Ornithopod dinosaurs walked on two or four legs, and species belonging to the group included the iguanodon and the Kamuysaurus. However, the Fukushima Prefecture fossil did not yield any more clues about what species it is from.

According to the announcement, the fossil is about 10 centimeters long and 4 cm wide. It was unearthed in the Tamayama Formation of the Futaba Group strata in Iwaki in 1981-1982. It was categorized as a reptilian fossil at the time and had been kept at Iwaki City Coal and Fossil Museum for years.

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