A joint South Korean-U.S. research team recently discovered a new baby dinosaur fossil in Korea and named the dinosaur Doolysaurus. The fossil belonged to a young dinosaur, like the character in the comic "Baby Dinosaur Dooly."
The Korea Dinosaur Research Center at Chonnam National University and the University of Texas at Austin research team published the findings on the 19th in the international journal Fossil Record.
The newly discovered dinosaur's scientific name is Doolysaurus huhmini. The species name "huhmini" is derived from the name of paleontologist Heo Min, a Chonnam National University professor who has devoted the past 30 years to dinosaur research in Korea. Heo took part in establishing the Korea Dinosaur Research Center and has worked to preserve domestic dinosaur fossil sites.
The Doolysaurus fossil was found on Aphae Island in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, in 2023. It is the first new dinosaur species identified in Korea in 15 years and the first Korean dinosaur fossil discovered with part of the skull preserved. In Korea so far, trace fossils such as dinosaur footprints, nests, and eggs have often been found, while body fossils have been relatively rare.
The researchers said that when they first found the fossil, they confirmed only parts of the leg bone and vertebrae. Later, through micro-computed tomography (CT) at the University of Texas, fragments of the skull and several bones that had been almost buried in hard rock were identified. Micro CT is a technique that looks inside without cutting, similar to medical CT.
The team found growth marks in the dinosaur's femur and estimated it was a juvenile about 2 years old. Its size was about that of a turkey, but they assessed that as an adult it would have been about twice as large, and they expected its body to have been covered with fine, hair-like fibers.
Doolysaurus is analyzed to have lived between about 113 million and 94 million years ago, in the mid-Cretaceous of the Mesozoic era. Taxonomically, it belongs to the Thescelosauridae and can be seen as a group of bipedal herbivorous or omnivorous dinosaurs.
Many gastroliths were also found in the fossil. Gastroliths are small stones swallowed by animals such as dinosaurs or birds to help grind up and digest food. The gastroliths from this fossil suggest that this dinosaur may have eaten not only plants but also insects or small animals.
The researchers said, "The reason dinosaur bone fossils are scarce in Korea may not be because they 'do not exist,' but because they are still hidden in rock," and added, "As in this case, even if only some bones are visible on the surface, precise CT imaging can reveal more fossils preserved inside."
The team plans to return to Aphae Island to collect additional fossils. They also plan to reexamine other Korean fossils using the CT analysis techniques employed this time.