Dino card No. 1278 of 2,027

Nipponosaurus

Say it: nip-on-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Japanese lizard”1

Ate: PlantsDuck-billsLate Cretaceous

Nipponosaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived on an island that is now part of Russia. It was a plant-eater with a big, flat beak like a duck, and it probably walked on two legs or all fours.1 2

Lived

86 to 72 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Sinegorsk, Sakhalin Island, Russia1

Food

Plants3 2

Length

4 m1

the only known skeleton is a juvenile, about 4 metres long

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 22 bananas end to end

How big was Nipponosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Nipponosaurus was the first dinosaur ever named from Japanese territory, though Sakhalin Island was later annexed by the Soviet Union.1

The only known skeleton is about 60% complete and belonged to a juvenile, not a full-grown adult.1

Scientists used bone histology (looking at thin slices of bone under a microscope) to confirm that the Nipponosaurus fossil was a youngster.1

Nipponosaurus lived near the coast, and its body was buried in marine sediments, meaning it probably died close to the shore.1

For many years, some scientists thought Nipponosaurus might be the same as other Asian duck-billed dinosaurs, but newer studies show it is a valid, distinct species.1

The fossil was discovered in 1934 by miners digging a hospital foundation on Sakhalin Island.1

AI-made picture of Nipponosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Nipponosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Nipponosaurus

?How big was Nipponosaurus?

The only known skeleton is about 4 metres (13 feet) long, but it was a juvenile, so adults may have been bigger.1

?What did Nipponosaurus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It had a big, flat beak like a duck for cropping vegetation.2

?When did Nipponosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 89 to 84 million years ago, or around 80 million years ago according to some estimates.2 1

?Where was Nipponosaurus found?

Its fossil was found on Sakhalin Island, which is now part of Russia, but was Japanese territory when it was discovered in 1934.1 2

?Was Nipponosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a type of duck-billed dinosaur called a hadrosaur, specifically a lambeosaurine.2

?Why is it called Nipponosaurus?

The name means 'Japanese lizard' because it was the first dinosaur named from Japanese territory, though the island later became part of Russia.1 2

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Myth buster

Myth: Nipponosaurus was a full-grown adult when it died.

Truth: The skeleton is from a juvenile, as shown by its small size and microscopic bone features.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Nipponosaurus
Named by: Nagao 19363
Group: Duck-bills
Family / clade: Hadrosauridae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae3
Age of the rocks: 86 to 72 million years (Santonian / Campanian)3
Countries: Russia3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Nipponosaurus was named in 1936 by Japanese paleontologist Takumi Nagao, based on a skeleton found in 1934 on Sakhalin Island.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big a full-grown Nipponosaurus was, because only a juvenile skeleton has been found.1

Where the facts come from

Nipponosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Nipponosaurus (nhm.ac.uk)
Nipponosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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