▲This photo, provided by the Cultural Heritage Administration, shows the Koreaceratops hwaseongensis. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)▲This photo, provided by the Hwaseong City Government, shows the 3D model of Koreaceratops hwaseongensis. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)▲This photo, provided by the Hwaseong City Government, shows the list up of information of 'Koreaceratops Hwaseongensis.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL October 08 (Yonhap) -- The fossil "Hwaseong Horned Dinosaur" discovered in 2008 has been selected as a natural monument.

The Cultural Heritage Administration addressed on Saturday that they have designated the fossil of “Hwaseong Horned Dinosaur” also known as “Koreaceratops Hwaseongensis” as a natural monument.

Unlike the fossilized dinosaur eggs, and footprints “Koreaceratops Hwaseongensis” will be the first fossilized dinosaur bone structure to have ever been selected as a natural monument.

Koreaceratops hwaseongensis means "Korean horned dinosaur found in Hwaseong." This dinosaur fossil was discovered while cleaning the sea wall of Jeongok Port, Hwaseong, in 2008.

According to the research of Lee Yong-nam, a professor at the Seoul National University, it was revealed that this dinosaur was the first ceratopsian discovered in Korea and later on it was awarded with the scientific terminology which is recognized internationally for it academic values.

Most importantly the deginate, “Koreaceratops Hwaseongensis” is considered a major source of dinosaur research within Korean Peninsula.

When discovered it attracted a lot of attention for how the deginate had almost all of the bones of the lower body in place, including hip bones, tail bones, lower leg bones, and foot bones.

This deginate may be the significant evidence indicating that the ceratopsian dinosaurs lived on the Korean Peninsula during the Early Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era, about 120 million years ago.

Judging by the structure of the dinosaur, researchers are assuming that the fossilized dinosaur to have been at least 2.3m long and walked with two legs instead of four like most of the dinosaurs.

Through in depth research, professor Lee Yong-nam found out the deginated dinosaur has died when it was 8 years old.

Currently, this fossil is on display at the Hwaseong Fossilized Dinosaur Egg Site Visitor Center in Hwaseong. The Hwaseong city government has invested 1.5 years measuring the details of the deginated bones and recreated it in into a 3D model.

“The fossil of ‘Koreaceratops Hwaseongensis’ is being used to understand the development of ceratopsian dinosaurs.” adding “The deginate will also be used and exhibited at the ‘Hwaseong Dinosaur nature science center’ (working title) in 2024 as a teaching material,” an official from the Cultural Heritage Administration said.

 

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Joonha Yoo)

 

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]