Biology:Satsumautsunomiyaryu
| Satsumautsunomiyaryu | |
|---|---|
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| Exhibition at Kagoshima Prefectural Museum. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Clade: | †Xenopsaria |
| Family: | †Elasmosauridae |
Satsumaunomiyaryu is a plesiosaur, the first such fossil discovered in Kyushu, Japan, and it was named after the former province name of the discovery site and the discoverer, Satoshi Utsunomiya.[1]
It is the oldest known elasmosaurid plesiosaur fossil in East Asia, dating back to approximately 100 million years ago.[2] It is permanently exhibited at the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum.[3]
Furthermore, the world's first plesiosaur gastrolith or "gizzard stone" was found in the throat area of Satsumaunomiyaryu.[1]
Overview
Satsumaunomiyaryu, a plesiosaur fossil dating back to the Late Cretaceous period (approximately 100 million years ago), was discovered on the coast of Hegushi, Shishijima, Nagashima Town, Kagoshima Prefecture in 2004 by Satoshi Utsunomiya. It is commonly referred to as Satsumaunomiyaryu, named after the former province name of the discovery site, Satsuma, and the discoverer's name. Satsumaunomiyaryu represents the first plesiosaur discovery in Kyushu, and Satoshi Utsunomiya was responsible for the entire process from excavation to cleaning, research, and publication of the findings.[4]
According to the research paper by Utsunomiya(Utsunomiya 2019), most known plesiosaur fossil discoveries in Japan are from the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions. The Satsumaunomiyaryu specimen is significant as it is the first plesiosaur fossil found in Kyushu and was recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Senomanian-age Heikushi Formation of the Gosoura Group in Shishijima, Kagoshima Prefecture. It includes well-preserved elements such as the anterior skull, posterior skull, a significant portion of the lower jaw, the tongue bone (a first in Japan), and a series of cervical vertebrae, including the atlas-axis complex. Distinctive features, such as ornamentation on tooth surfaces and the elongated neck with a single-headed neck rib, suggest that Satsumaunomiyaryu belongs to the Elasmosauridae family and may represent a new species. The separation of neural arches from vertebral centra in most of the vertebrae indicates that this individual was likely a juvenile.
Satsumaunomiyaryu is the oldest known Elasmosauridae specimen in Japan (East Asia), offering crucial insights into the presence of long-necked plesiosaurs in the northwestern Pacific during the early Late Cretaceous (early Senomanian period).
During the cleaning process of the Satsumaunomiyaryu specimen by Satoshi Utsunomiya, an undigested mass resembling a vertebrate was discovered in its throat region. Through research conducted by Satoshi Utsunomiya and Tokyo City University's Yasutoshi Nakajima,[5] it was identified as the world's first plesiosaur gastrolith or "pellet" fossil.[6][1]
The reconstruction of Satsumaunomiyaryu was undertaken by the paleoillustrator Gōji Kawasaki,[6] and a reconstruction model, displayed at the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum,[3] was created by Goro Kotada, a sculptor from Kaiyodo Co., Ltd.[7]
See also
Satsumayokuryu a pterosaur
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Fossil of Kubinagaryu found in Shishijima, Nagashima Town, Kagoshima Prefecture in 2004". Kagoshima Prefectural Museum News No.101 (Kagoshima Prefectural Museum). March 20, 2020. https://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/bc05/hakubutsukan/gakugei/documents/24191_20200310162010-1.pdf. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Return of Kubinagaryu". (Nagashima Town Education Committee Social Education Division). https://www.town.nagashima.lg.jp/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/01110800.pdf/. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Kagoshima Prefectural Museum Guide Map". Kagoshima Prefectural Museum Guide Map. https://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/bc05/hakubutsukan/annai/documents/55630_20190817160158-1.pdf. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ↑ Utsunomiya 2019.
- ↑ "Yasutoshi Nakajima (Associate Professor, Tokyo City University)". Tokyo City University. https://www.fossiljapan.com/japanese. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Plesiosaur with bird-like habits discovered in the stomach of a 100-million-year-old plesiosaur for the first time in the world - unknown "pellet" expelled unprocessed -". Tokyo City University (Tokyo City University). February 8, 2021. https://www.tcu.ac.jp/news/all/20210208-34431/. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
- ↑ "Goro Kotada, a sculptor known for his detailed figures at Kaiyodo, has created a reconstruction model of a dinosaur! What are the secrets and challenges of making a model that looks like it could move at any moment?". (Minami-Nihon Shimbun). https://www.msn.com/ja-jp/news/opinion/%E7%B2%BE%E5%B7%A7%E3%81%AA%E3%83%95%E3%82%A3%E3%82%AE%E3%83%A5%E3%82%A2%E3%81%A7%E7%9F%A5%E3%82%89%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B-%E6%B5%B7%E6%B4%8B%E5%A0%82-%E3%81%AE%E9%80%A0%E5%BD%A2-%E5%A1%97%E8%A3%85%E5%B8%AB-%E5%8F%A4%E7%94%B0%E6%82%9F%E9%83%8E%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E3%81%8C%E6%81%90%E7%AB%9C%E3%81%AE%E5%BE%A9%E5%85%83%E6%A8%A1%E5%9E%8B%E3%82%92%E4%BD%9C%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F-%E4%BB%8A%E3%81%AB%E3%82%82%E5%8B%95%E3%81%8D%E3%81%9D%E3%81%86%E3%81%AA%E6%A8%A1%E5%9E%8B%E4%BD%9C%E3%82%8A%E3%81%AE%E7%A7%98%E7%AD%96%E3%81%A8%E8%8B%A6%E5%8A%B4%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF？/ar-AA1emhSs. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
- Utsunomiya, Satoshi (March 2019). "The Earliest Elasmosauridae (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) in East Asia from the Upper Cretaceous Gosoura Group, Shishijima, Nagashima Town, Kagoshima, Japan" (in ja). Bulletin of the Osaka Museum of Natural History (Osaka Museum of Natural History) 73: 23-35. doi:10.20643/00001333. Entry at ORCID. http://id.nii.ac.jp/1504/00001333/.
Wikidata ☰ Q121354285 entry
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