Yamatosaurus

Say it like this: “yah-MAH-toh-SAWR-us”

Yamatosaurus izanagii

Yamatosaurus ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Japan.

Quiz me on Yamatosaurus

When: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Named in: 2021 · Kobayashi, Y.; Takasaki, R.; Kubota, K.; Fiorillo, A. R.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 7.6 m · 25 ft
Weight: Not established
Found in: Japan · Kita-ama
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two or four legs
Kind: beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
Family branch: Hadrosauridae

The story in short

In 2021, Y. Kobayashi and colleagues published the name Yamatosaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Yamatosaurus date to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from Japan, including the Kita-ama Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.

Published estimates put Yamatosaurus at a length near 7.6 m.

On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauridae, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Aquilarhinus

Aquilarhinus palimentus

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Arstanosaurus

Arstanosaurus akkurganensis

Late Cretaceous (Santonian · Campanian) · roughly 85.7 to 72.2 million years ago

Barsboldia

Barsboldia sicinskii

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago