Japanese Hadrosaurs

Japan actually has quite a few nice fossil animals and I could not possibly leave Japan behind without discussing the herbivorous counterpart to Fukui Prefecture's Fukuiraptor. Therefore, this week, we will discuss a hadrosaur by the name of Fukuisaurus tetoriensis. The "Fukui lizard" (of the Tetori geological group) is a basal hadrosaur described from two cotype fossils; a right maxilla and a right jugal. Uncovered in 2003, the skeleton has been added to extensively by subsequent discoveries. The amount of additional material has allowed for confident estimates of a length of about 14.8ft (4.5m) long and a weight estimated to be around 881.8lbs (400kg). These estimates make Fukuisaurus a fairly typical hadrosaur, possibly a little small.