Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum

Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (FPDM)
福井県立恐竜博物館
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is located in Fukui Prefecture
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
Location within Fukui Prefecture
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum is located in Japan
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum
Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (Japan)
EstablishedJuly 14, 2000
Location51-11 Terao, Muroko-chō, Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, Japan
Coordinates36°04′58″N 136°30′24″E / 36.082909°N 136.506666°E / 36.082909; 136.506666
TypeNatural history museum
Visitors901,119 (FY2016)
DirectorToshihisa Takeuchi
Curator15
ArchitectKisho Kurokawa
Public transit accessKatsuyama Eiheiji Line (Echizen Railway)
WebsiteOfficial website

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (福井県立恐竜博物館, Fukui Ken-ritsu Kyōryū Hakubutsukan), located in Katsuyama, Fukui, Japan, is one of the leading dinosaur museums in Asia that is renowned for its exhibits of fossil specimens of dinosaurs and paleontological research.[1] It is sited in the Nagaoyama Park (Katsuyama Dinosaur Forest Park) near the Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry that the Lower Cretaceous Kitadani Formation of the Tetori Group is cropped out and a large number of dinosaur remains including Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis are found and excavated.[2]

Since October 2009, the entire area of Katsuyama City has been recognized as a Japanese Geopark "Dinosaur Valley Fukui Katsuyama Geopark [ja]".[3][4] Since July 2014, the guide tour to the field station next to the excavation site has been available from the end of April to early November.[5] Dozens of fossil specimens of five named dinosaurs and their excavation site have been designated as a Natural Monument of Japan since February 2017.[6] The Asia Dinosaur Association Secretary Office has been housed inside the museum since its establishment in 2013.[7]

  1. ^ Kato, Akira (2014-01-14). "CGI, scientific studies bring dinosaurs closer". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  2. ^ Goto, Michiharu (2010). "Lower Cretaceous Planorbidae (Gastropoda) from the Kitadani Formation of the Tetori Group in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture, Central Japan" (PDF). Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum (9). Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum: 41–45. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  3. ^ "Dinosaur Valley Fukui Katsuyama Geopark". Dinosaur Valley Fukui Katsuyama Geopark Promotion Council. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  4. ^ Japanese Geoparks Network
  5. ^ "Field Station". Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  6. ^ "国天然記念物の文化財指定について". Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  7. ^ "Asia Dinosaur Association". Retrieved 2018-07-29.