Possible new Hypsilophodon species found in Japan

[MKIRKALDY@aol.com]

The Kyodo News Service is reporting that the "remains of the skull 
of a potentially new plant-eating dinosaur species were unearthed 
intact from a rock formation in Shiramine, Ishikawa Prefecture...",

The find "was excavated from a stratum in the Tetori Formation that 
dates back 130 million years to the early Cretaceous Period." 
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"A more important distinguishing factor for the Shiramine discovery is 
the difference in the fossilized skull's appearance from specimens 
found in other countries, such as Britain or Australia." 
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"The remains, the left half of a Hypsilophodon skull, measure 10 
centimeters from the beak to the back of the skull and 7 cm from 
the crown to the jaw."

"From the size of its head, experts believe this particular dinosaur 
was 130 cm long -- small considering Hypsilophodon usually 
measured 2 to 6 meters long." 

"A look at the skull's cross-section reveals rows of 5-millimeter 
teeth, whose trapezoidal shape provides the officials and paleontologists 
who have seen the specimen one reason to suspect this Hypsilophodon 
could have evolved differently from the others."

Mary
mkirkaldy@aol.com