Kamuysaurus

god lizard (divine lizard)

• Kamuy · Ainu · god, deity, divine being
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines "kamuy", the Ainu word for a god or divine spirit, with the Greek "sauros" for lizard. The Ainu are the Indigenous people of Hokkaido, where the fossil was found, and the name honours their culture. The type species is Kamuysaurus japonicus, a hadrosaurid ("duck-billed dinosaur") with a bony crest on its head. It is known from a mostly complete skeleton, which is unusual for Japan.

Named by

Kobayashi et al.

Year named

2019

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Hakobuchi Formation, Mukawa, Hokkaido, Japan

A hadrosaurid ornithopod (Edmontosaurini). It is nicknamed the "Mukawa dragon" (Mukawaryu) after the town of Mukawa where it was found.