New Genus of Dinosaur Discovered in South Korea

Koreaceratops hwaseongensis, a new species of dinosaur estimated to have lived during the late Early Cretaceous period about 103 million years ago, has been discovered in South Korea.

The specimen was discovered in 2008 and is the first ceratopsian dinosaur discovered in the Korean peninsula. Ceratopsians are dinosaurs with horns and a rostral bone, a beak-like bone in the upper jaw. A well-known ceratopsian is the Triceratops.

Scientists from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in the United States, and the Hokkaido University Museum in Japan analyzed the fossil and identified it was a new species. Because of its uniqueness, they also created a new genus for it.

The researchers said that the body structure of Koreaceratops, especially a fan-like tail, may facilitate swimming. Unique features of Koreaceratops include long spines on its tail vertebrae and an unusual heel bone, the researchers said in their paper.

“Fossils of dinosaurs have not typically been found in this region, whereas evidence of dinosaur eggs and footprints occur more commonly,” said Dr. Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and co-author of the study.

The researchers estimate that the dinosaur was approximately 5 to 6 feet in length and weighed 60 to 100 pounds.

“It’s about the size of a Labrador dog,” Ryan said in a video discussing the discovery.

The new species was named after Korea and Hwaseong, the city where the fossil was found.

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