Three-dimensional reconstruction and artistic restoration of the Chinese Hanyu crocodile specimen.
Ganga crocodile
Chinese Hanyu crocodile
Bay crocodile
An adult male
Alligator
Recently, a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences showed that researchers found a new species of prehistoric crocodile and named it "Chinese Hanyu Crocodile" when studying crocodile specimens in the Xinhui District Museum in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, and the Shunde District Museum in Foshan City. On March 16, Liu Jun, the main leader of the scientific research team and a professor at Hefei University of Technology, told Nandu reporters that the discovery of this new species is of unique significance to resolving the crocodile lineage development controversy. It is reported that the specimens are currently on display at the above two museums for the public.
According to reports, in the Lingnan region of the mainland, there have been some giant prehistoric crocodiles. These crocodiles were more than 6 meters long and were the top predators in the ecological environment at that time. According to historical records, the famous Tang Dynasty literary scholar Han Yu tried to warn crocodiles when he was degraded to Chaozhou, and even threw pigs and sheep into the evil stream (present-day HanJiang) to order the crocodiles to leave, and wrote the famous "Crocodile Text". By the end of the Tang Dynasty, with the population growth and human activities in the Lingnan region, the former hegemon gradually disappeared.
On March 16, Liu Jun told Nandu reporters that after research, the four crocodile specimens in the Xinhui District Museum in Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, and the Shunde District Museum in Foshan City belong to the long-snout crocodile family taxonomically, with unique skull characteristics, adult individuals are more than 6 meters long, and the protagonist of Han Yu's "infestation everywhere" is likely to belong to the same species. Therefore, the research team decided to name it after Han Yu.
Liu Jun introduced that crocodile specimens in the above two museums have been discovered as early as the 60s and 70s of the last century, and there were brief reports in the 80s, but due to the technical conditions at that time, no one studied them as a new species. In Liu Jun's view, the discovery of the Chinese Hanyu crocodile is of great significance to resolving the decades-long crocodile lineage development controversy.
"Before the appearance of the Chinese Hanyu crocodile, it was generally believed that the only crocodile species unique to China were the Yangtze crocodile distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River." Liu Jun believes that the Yangtze crocodile is small in size and relatively docile in nature, and usually does not cause fatal injuries to humans and domestic animals. As the only giant reptile in ancient China that can "eat people", the Chinese Hanyu crocodile is bound to pose a certain threat to the ancestors of the Lingnan region who lived by fishing and hunting.
Liu Jun revealed to Nandu reporters that he is currently actively exploring other aspects of this new discovery with the team. "The Chinese Hanyu crocodile subfoliate is new in age and retains some soft tissues, which means that it is possible to extract ancient DNA material from it, thus depicting a more accurate evolutionary history of crocodiles."
On March 15, the staff of xinhui district museum and shunde district museum told Nandu reporters that the relevant crocodile specimens studied and used by Liu Jun's team are currently being displayed to the public.
Excerpt from Crocodile Text
On the day of the month of Wei Nian, Chaozhou stabbed Shi Hanyu, and made the military push Qin Ji, and threw the pond of evil streams with sheep and pigs to feed with crocodiles, and told them: The king of the past has the whole world, the mountains are listed, and the rope is bladed, and the insects, snakes, and evil things are the people's victims, and they are driven out of the four seas.
[Translation]: On a certain day in a certain month of a certain year, The Chaozhou Assassin Shi Hanyu sent his subordinates TouYing Qin Ji to throw a sheep and a pig into the pond water of the Evil Creek and give it to the crocodiles to eat.
At the same time, it also warned it: After the emperors of ancient times had the world, they set fire to the grass and trees of the mountains and the land, used ropes to catch them, and stabbed them with sharp blades to eliminate the evil animals that brought harm to the people such as insects and snakes, and banished them to the four seas.
Zhiduo D
Why is the crocodile named after Han Yu?
In the fourteenth year of Tang Yuanhe (819), Han Yu angered Tang Xianzong for his advice to the Buddha's bones, and was demoted to the title of Chaozhou Assassin. When Han Yu went to Chaozhou, he heard that there were crocodiles in the evil streams in the territory, and he ate all the livestock of the nearby people. So on April 24, 14th of Yuan He, he wrote the Crocodile Text to exhort the crocodile to relocate.
At the beginning of the article, after pointing out that Han Yu sent his subordinates to sacrifice in the capacity of Chaozhou Assassin, the first paragraph first reviews the long history and compares the first king with the later king to clarify the reasons why the crocodile has been able to wreak havoc for a long time. The second paragraph is a metaphor for the present and the past, and it is shocked by the Tang Dynasty Heavenly Son, the Thorn History, the County Order, the Heaven and Earth, the Zongmiao Temple, and the Hundred Gods. The third paragraph begins with "Crocodiles have knowledge, they listen to the history of thorns", and formally and grandly announce the order to expel crocodiles, if they cannot migrate within seven days, "those who are proud of the orders of the Son of Heaven, do not listen to their words, do not migrate to avoid them, and those who are stubborn and do not work for the harm of human objects can be killed."
Written by: Nandu reporter Weng Anqi intern He Jiahao Interviewee courtesy of the interviewee