TsukuBlog

Desmostylus is an extinct herbivorous mammal that resembled a hippopotamus. In 1977, Japanese researchers found a nearly complete fossilized skeleton of Desmostylus in a town called Utanobori (now Esashi) in Hokkaido. The reconstructed Utanobori specimen will be on exhibit from September 26 to December 2 (closed on September 29 and October 7) at the Geological Museum at AIST.

There will also be a free lecture about Desmostylus on October 14 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm at the museum.

See also:

• On the excavation and restoration of Desmostylus from Utanobori, Hokkaido (pdf, paper published in the Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Japan, in Japanese but with some interesting pictures)
• デスモスチルス歌登標本
• Old AIST site