Yamatosaurus izanagii: New species of duck-billed dinosaur

May 6, 2021

An international team of Palaeontologists (who studies fossils) has identified a new genus and species of hadrosaur. Hadrosaur is also called duck-billed dinosaur. The species has been named as Yamatosaurus izanagii.

About the discovery

The new fossil discovery has provided information about the hadrosaur migration. According to the discovery, they migrated from Asia to North America and vice versa.

The discovery also states that these giant creatures evolved from walking upright to walking on four legs.

Hadrosaurs

The Hadrosaurs are the most commonly found species of all dinosaurs. They are plant eating dinosaur. They lived in the late Cretaceous period, that is, 65 million years ago.

The fossil remains of Hadrosaurs have been found in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa.

The Hadrosaurs are uniquely adopted to chewing. They have hundreds of teeth closely spaced in their cheek. Their ability to chew vegetation was the major factor that led to its diversity.

How is Yamatosaurus different from Hadrosaurs?

In Hadrosaurs, new teeth grew in the dental battery as their teeth wore out or fell out. These new teeth grew next to the older teeth. However, the dental structure of Yamatosaurus was different from that of Hadrosaurs. The Yamatosaurus had one functional tooth in several battery positions and no branched ridges. This shows that they evolved to devour (eat hungrily) different type of vegetation.