New dinosaur named after Doraemon's 'Nobita' to honor 'childhood memories'

In a tribute to his childhood memories, a Chinese scientist has named a new dinosaur fossil 'Eubrontes Nobitai' after the popular Japanese cartoon character 'Nobita' from Doraemon. According to Kyodo News, Xing Lida, associate professor at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing said that Doraemon movies had been 'very excellent' in featuring dinosaurs and had been a part of the childhood memories of several Chinese netizens. The scientist stated that through films such as Nobita’s Dinosaur (1980) and Nobita’s New Dinosaur (2020), several children had come to know more about dinosaurs, and the series had been instrumental in making children like the extinct species. 

Doraemon is "one of the common memories of childhood for those who were born in China in the 1980s," the 38-year-old Chinese scientist said. 

Details of 'Eubrontes Nobitai'

The dinosaur named '“Eubrontes Nobitai" was discovered in China's southwestern province of Sichuan in July 2020. According to Kyodo News, the distance between four footprints of the dinosaur is around 50 centimeters, the length of the sole is about 30 cm, and the body length is estimated to be nearly 4 meters. The fossil has been recognized as being related to a new species of carnivorous dinosaur 'Eubrontes' in the Cretaceous. One of the replicas of the Nobita dinosaur will be placed at the museum in Tokyo's Ueno district from November 30 this year. 

Widely-popular manga and anime series Doraemon follows the journey of an animatronic cat who travels back in time from the 22nd century to help a boy named Nobita Nobi through his various inventions.