Nipponosaurus

Nipponosaurus
Temporal range: Upper Santonian - Lower Campanian ~80 Ma
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Restored skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: †Ornithischia
Clade: †Neornithischia
Clade: †Ornithopoda
Family: †Hadrosauridae
Subfamily: †Lambeosaurinae
Genus: †Nipponosaurus
Nagao, 1936
Type species
†Nipponosaurus sachalinensis

Nipponosaurus (meaning "Japanese lizard") is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur from sediments of the Yezo Group, in Sinegorsk on the island of Sakhalin, which was part of Japan at the time of the species' classification. The type and only species is N. sachalinensis, known only from a single juvenile specimen discovered in 1934 and named in 1936, by Takumi Nagao, with further material of the same individual found in 1937.[1][2][3] Since then, the taxon has been largely ignored, and its validity has been doubted, with synonymy with other Asian hadrosaurs or status as a nomen dubium being suggested. Redescriptions from 2004 and 2017, however, have supported recognition as a distinct species.[2][4][5] Dating the only specimen has been difficult, but based on associated mollusc taxa, the species likely lived sometime in the upper Santonian or lower Campanian, around 80 million years ago.[4][5]

  1. ^ Nagao, Takumi (1936). "Nipponosaurus sachalinensis – A new genus and species of trachodont dinosaur from Japanese Saghalien". Journal of the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido Imperial University. Ser. 4, Geology and Mineralogy. 3 (1): 185–220.
  2. ^ a b Takasaki, Ryuji; et al. (2017). "Reanalysis of the phylogenetic status of Nipponosaurus sachalinensis (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Southern Sakhalin". Historical Biology. 30 (5): 1–18. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1317766. S2CID 90767373.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference limbs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Suzuki D.; Weishampel D. B.; Minoura N. (2004). "Nippponosaurus sachalinensis (Dinosauria; Ornithopoda): anatomy and systematic position within Hadrosauridae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (1): 145–164. Bibcode:2004JVPal..24..145S. doi:10.1671/A1034-11. S2CID 83841024.
  5. ^ a b Masaki Matsukawa; Ikuwo Obata (1994). "Dinosaurs and sedimentary environments in the Japanese Cretaceous: a contribution to dinosaur facies in Asia based on molluscan palaeontology and stratigraphy". Cretaceous Research. 15 (1): 101–125. Bibcode:1994CrRes..15..101M. doi:10.1006/cres.1994.1005.