Pterosaur fossil found in Japan identified as new species
A fossilized cervical vertebra discovered back in 1996 in southwestern Japan was found to have been from a new genus and species of pterosaur, a prehistoric flying reptile.
A research team made up of members from Mifune Dinosaur Museum, which has the fossil on display, and others named the new species of the extinct flying vertebrates "Nipponopterus mifunensis," or "Japan's wings from Mifune" in Latin. This is the first time that a pterosaur has been named based on a fossil found in Japan.
The fossil was discovered from a geologic formation dating back 100.5 million to 66 million years during the Late Cretaceous period in the town of Mifune in Kumamoto Prefecture by the town's education board.
Past research had confirmed that the fossil was of a specimen of the Azhdarchidae family, a group of long-necked pterosaurs. Due to the scarcity of available fossils that could be used as reference at the time, the exact genus and species were left unidentified.
In the latest research, the team concluded that the fossil was of a new pterosaur genus and species due to several distinct features, through analysis of computed tomography scans and comparisons with about 200 species of pterosaurs.
The team's finding was published in international journal Cretaceous Research in March this year.
"This is an important research result showing that pterosaurs were flying in the skies near Japan," Naoki Ikegami, 57, a curator at the museum, said.
"The finding has opened the door to pterosaur research in Japan," he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
6 hours ago
- NHK
Site of massive neutrino detector in Japan shown to media
Reporters have been invited to take their first look at the cavern being built to house the Hyper-Kamiokande detector for observing elementary particles, which are called neutrinos. A large cavern for the detector at a depth of 600 meters underground in the city of Hida, Gifu Prefecture, was shown to the media on Saturday. The cavern, with a diameter of 69 meters and height of 94 meters, is scheduled to be completed next month. A giant water tank will then be installed. The tank's inner walls will be lined with about 20-thousand ultra-high sensitivity photosensors for observing neutrinos. The construction of the Hyper-Kamiokande detector began in 2020, with the aim of helping to unravel the mysteries of the birth of the universe. Observations are expected to begin in three years' time. The new detector is capable of observing about eight times more neutrinos than one of its two predecessors. The Super-Kamiokande, along with the Kamiokande detectors, have helped Japanese researchers twice win the Nobel Prize in Physics for successful observations of neutrinos. Kamioka Observatory at the University of Tokyo's Institute for Cosmic Ray Research has been leading the international project. Director Shiozawa Masato said he is relieved to see the cavern will be completed soon. He said he hopes to see research outcomes that would surprise everyone, so he urges people to keep up to date on the project.
Japan Times
11 hours ago
- Japan Times
Japan's H2A rocket retired after successful final launch
Japan's flagship H2A rocket lifted off for the final time at 1:33 a.m. on Sunday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, successfully concluding a 24-year run that has defined the nation's space capabilities. The rocket's 50th and final mission carrieds the GOSAT-GW, a government-developed hybrid environmental observation satellite. The satellite combines the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for monitoring ocean surface temperatures and water cycle dynamics with the TANSO sensor, which measures greenhouse gases, and is expected to play a key role in the country's climate change mitigation and resource management. With this final launch, the H2A retires with a stellar track record — 49 successful launches out of 50, a success rate of 98%. Jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the 53-meter rocket debuted in 2001 and quickly became the workhorse of the country's space program. Some of H2A's most vital payloads were weather and reconnaissance satellites that support the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System. It also enabled landmark missions such as the 2014 launch of the Hayabusa2 asteroid probe, which successfully returned samples from the asteroid Ryugu to Earth, and contributed to Japan's first successful lunar landing in January 2024 by carrying the SLIM lander. Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the launch was delayed after an anomaly was detected in the rocket's second-stage electrical system. Engineers completed the necessary repairs and re-inspections before clearing it for flight. The decision to retire the H2A comes amid rising global competition in the space launch industry, where cost-efficiency has become a key differentiator. While the H2A offered world-class reliability, its average per-launch cost of around ¥10 billion ($69 million) made it increasingly difficult to compete with rockets with lower price— to— payload prices, such as SpaceX's Falcon 9. With the H2A now phased out, attention turns to its successor, the H3 rocket. Co-developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the H3 offers lower launch costs and increased launch frequency amid intensifying international competition. While its debut flight in March 2023 ended in failure, the program has since rebounded with four consecutive successful launches. The upcoming sixth H3 mission, scheduled for later in this year, will mark a key milestone. The rocket will be the first in its 30 configuration, using three liquid-propellant engines and no solid rocket boosters — a test of its low-cost configuration and a step toward Japan's effort to build a globally competitive launch platform.
Japan Times
a day ago
- Japan Times
Megaquake may hit central Japan within next 30 years, government panel says
Marine active faults off Japan's Kinki western region and Hokuriku central region are projected to trigger an earthquake with a magnitude of 7 or larger at a probability of 16% to 18% within the next 30 years, according to a government panel. The government's Earthquake Research Committee calculated the probability of such a temblor occurring in any of the 23 active faults and fault zones spanning at least 20 kilometers in the Sea of Japan, it announced Friday. Following the massive Noto Peninsula earthquake in central Japan in January 2024, the committee released information on the locations and lengths of the marine active faults, as well as the estimated magnitudes of possible quakes from them, in August 2024. The probability of a quake with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher occurring in the western nine faults, mainly off the northern coast of the Kinki region, stood at 4% to 6%, while that for the eastern 14 faults, including off the Noto Peninsula, came to 12% to 14%. "About 10% in the next 30 years is a high figure, signaling that (a large earthquake) could happen while we are alive," said University of Tokyo professor emeritus Naoshi Hirata, who heads the committee. "We hope people will take measures such as making homes earthquake-resistant and securing furniture." A fault zone to the north of the Noto Peninsula was projected to have nearly zero percent probability of causing a large quake in the next three decades, as it was the hypocenter of the 2024 earthquake. Meanwhile, a fault and parts of a fault zone to the west of the peninsula were assessed as being most likely to cause a large quake among the 23 sites, at 1% to 2% each. "An earthquake like that of last year may not occur in a fault zone on the northern coast of the Noto Peninsula for a while, but it's quite possible that such a quake will occur in another area," Hirata said. He stressed the need to prepare for possible tremors and tsunamis at a scale on par with last year's temblor. The committee newly recognized a fault off the coast of Toyama Prefecture, central Japan, as an active one, finding a 0.9% to 1% likelihood of causing an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0. It will assess three faults off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, next time, due to geological differences with other faults. Along with the long-term evaluations, the panel also released data on expected seismic intensity from quakes in the 23 faults. It said that a quake in a fault off the coast of Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, is seen registering lower 6, the third highest, on the Japanese seismic scale in some areas of Fukui's capital city of the same name. Meanwhile, a quake in a fault off Ishikawa Prefecture is projected to measure lower 6 in some areas of the prefectural capital of Kanazawa.
