One of the large carnivorous dinosaurs, it had sharp teeth similar to that of tyrannosaurus, and the most unique thing is that its nose had a row of spikes, and its snout was thin and slender, making it known as the "Pinocchio King".
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Fossil discovery of The Chinese Qianzhou Dragon
The earliest fossils of the Chinese Qianzhou dragon were found in Ganzhou, Jiangxi. While working on the construction site, a construction worker stumbled upon several strange bones, including the tail, cervical vertebrae, and skull, whose teeth were very similar to those of T. rex and had the same strong bite force as T. rex.
The fossils were then delivered to paleontologist Lü Junchang, and soon after the paper was published in the journal Nature Communications, naming the new dinosaur "Chinese Qianzhou Dragon". The genus name is taken from the ancient name of Ganzhou, where the excavation site was excavated.
Restoration map of The Dragon Head Department of Qianzhou (Source: Network)
The body characteristics of the Chinese Qianzhou dragon
The Chinese Pianaurus and the branch dragon found in Mongolia belong to the same species, both are a species of long-snouted Tyrannosaurus rex, this dinosaur is mainly distributed in Asia, and according to the layers buried in the fossils, it can be seen that it lived with Tyrannosaurus rex during the Cretaceous period, and was also a very deadly predator.
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Belonging to the large Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur, the body length of more than 8 meters, weighing up to 816 kg, such a size has been found in the 770 kinds of dinosaurs that have been discovered in the 234th place, similar to parachlorosaurus, Abbelosaurus and Albertaurus, etc., the size is almost the same as a modern Asian elephant.
However, this body length is not the top in the tyrannosaur class, and it is much smaller than that of the same period, Tyrannosaurus rex and Tyrannosaurus rex. However, compared with these two big brothers, the difference between the Chinese Qianzhou dragon is not only that it is small in size, but also that it has many characteristics, such as intelligence and good at concealed camouflage, which are unique in the family Tyrannosaurus.
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One of the most unique features of the Chinese Qianzhou dragon is that its snout shows a slender state, to know that the snouts of other tyrannosaur dinosaurs are almost all wide and thick, but the snout of the Chinese Qianzhou dragon is as thin and long as the long nose of Pinocchio in the fairy tale, accounting for almost 70% of the entire head, at least 4.3% longer than the heads of other Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs.
Moreover, its maxilla has windowed holes, and a whole row of horns grows on its nose, which is what distinguishes Qianzhou dragon from other dinosaurs.
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In addition, the femur of the Chinese Qianzhou dragon is about 70 cm long and the tibia is about 76 cm long, which indicates that it has a pair of large long legs, which is more conducive to running fast. Other dinosaurs found in Ganzhou: Ganzhou Dragon, Jiangxi Dragon, Nankang Dragon, Tongtian Dragon and Crowned Robber Dragon are the staple food of Qianzhou Dragon, these small dragons are dexterous and agile, delicious but not easy to catch. To catch these nimble prey, the Chinese Qianzhou Dragon desperately needs a speed advantage.
Ganzhou - the hometown of Chinese dinosaurs
On March 31, 2017, the China Paleontological Fossil Conservation Foundation held a review meeting for Ganzhou City's application for "China's Dinosaur Town" in Beijing. At the review meeting, the experts unanimously agreed that Ganzhou met the evaluation criteria of China's fossil town and agreed to award the title of "China's Dinosaur Town".
Dinosaur fossils on display in the Ganzhou City Museum
Ganzhou has unearthed a large number of rare fossil specimens such as dinosaur eggs, which is the area with the largest number of dinosaur fossils and dinosaur egg fossils unearthed in Jiangxi Province. The spotted crested dragon, Chinese Gannan dragon, Ganzhou Jiangxi dragon, Jiangxi Kanglong, Nankang Ganzhou dragon, Chinese Qianzhou dragon, etc. that have been discovered and named are all national key protected fossils and have great scientific research value.
In the future, Ganzhou's dinosaur culture, red culture, Songcheng culture, Hakka culture, etc. will be integrated into one, creating a unique tourism city brand in Ganzhou, and making dinosaur fossil culture a new business card in Ganzhou.
And the story of the forgotten national treasure, the Chinese Qianzhou Dragon, continues...
Edited by ▎ Zhang Hua
Audit ▎ Xiong Wei, Zou Yan
Supervisor ▎ Li Huawei
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