Fukuivenator - New Species of Feathered Dinosaur Discovered in Japan

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum and Fukui Prefectural University have announced that a fossil found in 2007 in a stratum from about 120 million years ago (Early Cretaceous) in Katsuyama City, Fukui Prefecture, has been identified as a new species of feathered dinosaur. This is the seventh new dinosaur species discovered in Japan.
It is a small theropod and is considered to be a feathered dinosaur belonging to the Maniraptoriformes of the Coelurosauria, the ancestors of birds.

It was given the scientific name "Fukuivenator," with the genus name meaning "hunter of Fukui."

It had hearing as sharp as that of birds, and its semicircular canals, which govern the sense of balance, show theropod characteristics, suggesting it was a dinosaur in the process of evolving from theropods to birds.

The discovered individual was a subadult still in the process of growing, estimated to be 245 centimeters in total length and weigh 25 kg. Based on the shape of its teeth and neck bones, Fukuivenator is believed to have been an omnivore.