| Videos | ? Latest |
|
? Feature | ? Sports | ? Your Videos |
Footprints of dinosaur found in Beijing suburb
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail
CNTV, January 11, 2012
For over 160 million years, dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates on Earth. And China is rich in their fossilized remains. So, let's spend a moment with the scientists who walk in the foot prints of the dinosaurs.
 |
|
After 4 months of researching these giant footprints, experts have confirmed that Yanqing county of Beijing was inhabited by dinosaurs over 140 million years ago. |
After 4 months of researching these giant footprints, experts have confirmed that Yanqing county of Beijing was inhabited by dinosaurs over 140 million years ago.
This hillside is very likely to have been a soft river bank back then. But even from a partial print that was left behind, it's still possible to confirm that both carnivore and herbivore dinosaurs once gathered here. These species would have formed a perfect biological chain -- a real live "Jurassic Park."
Zhang Jianping, director of Geological Park Eval. Cntr, Univ. of Geosciences, said, "It's very meaningful for studying the composition and habits of dinosaurs over 140 million years ago. It's also meaningful for the international study of dinosaurs."
While Beijing experts study footprints, in the Qijiang county of Chongqing Municipality, dinosaurs actually "stand up". It all started when some footprints were found in June of 2010. After evacuation, 82 fossils at Qijiang Museum of Natural History were all marked in order to be put together.
The researchers had half of the dinosaur's bones, and after some cleaning up, the bones were very clear. Even so, it took them over 5 months of repair and reconstruction to create this 4 meter tall, 20 meter long mid-sized dinosaur. They plan to put it on display for free after Spring Festival.
Since 2003, more than 200 footprints has been discovered in Qijiang.
