Wakinosaurus is a type of dinosaur that lived a long time ago during the Early Cretaceous period, about 136 to 125 million years ago. This dinosaur was found in Kyushu, Japan, and is known from just a single tooth.
The name Wakinosaurus means “Wakino lizard.” It was first discovered by a hockey player named Masahiro Sato in 1990. The tooth was reported by a scientist named Yoshihiko Okazaki the same year. In 1992, Okazaki officially named it Wakinosaurus satoi to honor Sato for his discovery.
The only part of Wakinosaurus we have is a damaged tooth that is about seven centimeters long. The tooth has sharp edges with around thirty tiny serrations per five millimeters, making it look a bit like a leaf with fine cutting edges.
Initially, scientists thought Wakinosaurus was related to a group called megalosaurids, but it is now uncertain what exactly it was. Some people think it could be an early type of theropod dinosaur related to others like Acrocanthosaurus. However, because we have so little information, its exact classification remains unclear.
Overall, Wakinosaurus gives us a glimpse into the variety of dinosaurs that once roamed our planet, even if we only have a tiny piece of evidence to work with.