Bulletin of the Mizunami Fossil Museum

Bulletin of the Mizunami Fossil Museum Vol. 52, No. 1

Paleontological restoration of the “Paleoparadoxiid Mizunami-Kamado specimen” (MFM 18130), which was excavated from the Lower Miocene Shukunohora Formation (ca. 16.5 Ma) Mizunami Group in Kamado-cho, Mizunami City, was created as a reconstruction of a complete skeleton, a 2D illustration of the paleoecology of the Paleoparadoxiidae and the paleoenvironment around the paleoparadoxiids, and a model of a living body. The form of the paleoparadoxiid was reconstructed based on the 3D digital skeletal model and restored. The paleoecology of the time when the individuals represented by the present specimen lived around shallow marine was reconstructed based on the molluscs, barnacles, echinoids, sharks, and plants that were associated with the present skeleton. They have been exhibiting at the Mizunami Fossil Museum as a new exhibition since March 2025, with an assembled skeleton of MFM 18130 supported by steel frames. It is hoped that these illustrations will not only help people understand how the extinct paleoparadoxiid lived around the northern Pacific realms, but also museum visitors’ interests in Desmostylia, paleontology and fossils.