New 80-Million-Year-Old Creature Species Identified in Japan

Japanese scientists may have identified a previously unknown species of marine reptile as a result of new research on fossil remains that had been kept secret for decades. This was reported by Kyodo news agency.

According to reports, specialists from Okayama University of Science and other scientific institutions reanalyzed ancient remains found in the 1990s. Previously, this find was assessed as belonging to mosasaurs — large marine predators that lived during the Cretaceous period.

It was noted that the fossil remains were found in 1990–1992 in the area of Kaizuka city, Japan, and had been kept at the Museum of Natural History in Kishiwada, Osaka Prefecture, until now. Due to a lack of technical capabilities, they had not been thoroughly studied for many years.

Thanks to new technologies and scientific advances in the field of paleontology in recent years, specialists managed to carefully separate the remains from rock layers and analyze them in detail.

During the research, scientists identified three distinctive anatomical structures in the animal's upper jaw bone that had not previously been recorded in any mosasaur species. It was also found that this marine reptile, approximately 6 meters in length, lacks the special groove for blood vessels characteristic of other mosasaurs.

Experts emphasize that it is precisely these unique anatomical features that suggest this find may belong to a new mosasaur species previously unknown to science.

Scientists plan to further clarify the evolutionary history of this rare find and its role in the development of marine reptiles through additional research.