and new
On October 8, 2009, Comrade Wang Kebai, Director of the Office of the Zhucheng Dinosaur Resources Development Leading Group and Director of the Tourism Bureau, happened to hear that there were many mysterious animal footprints printed on the rocks in Huanglonggou. Out of professional sensitivity, he thought of dinosaurs.
Huanglonggou is located in the southwest of Dashan Community, Huanghua Town, Zhucheng City, 20 kilometers away from Zhucheng City. It is also a naturally formed east-west gully. To the west is connected to the small earth mountain, which is called "Xiling" by the local villagers, and to the east is bordered by the Daoyang River, which runs through the entire territory of Huanghua. The total length of the east and west is more than 1,500 meters.
Dinosaur footprints in Huanglonggou
On the southern slope of Huanglonggou, you can see the footprints densely scattered on it everywhere. Folklore says "swan claw". It is said that a long time ago, a flock of swans flew through this place and stayed overnight because of the beautiful scenery here, leaving these claw marks.
Now it seems that it is not unreasonable for them to call these footprints "swan claws", because most ornithopod dinosaur footprints are indeed very similar to goose claws.
In the face of such dense and different forms of "swan claws", no matter who it is, it seems that it is no longer a cold rock formation in front of them, but a magnificent scene of "a group of geese dancing together".
Dinosaur footprints in Huanglonggou
Are these claws really "swan claws"? Not really.
There is a river on the east side of Huanglonggou, and the river flows from south to north. In the section of Huanglonggou, the river often flows in the opposite direction. Therefore, the local villagers call it the "Inverted River". Legend has it that the reason why the water of the river is "upside down" is related to a dragon that lives in the "Huanglonggou".
Huanglonggou water ripples
A small river on the east side of Huanglonggou
Just after the "Eleventh" long holiday, Director Wang Kebai and the director invited Mr. Wang Haijun, a dinosaur expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to Huanglonggou for a field trip.
Due to the erosion of floods in the rainy season, the south side of Huanglonggou is exposed to underground rock formations more than two meters wide, and footprints are densely covered on these rock formations. Mr. Wang Haijun almost only glanced at it and basically concluded that this was a fossil of dinosaur footprints. A few days later, Xing Lida, a well-known Chinese expert on dinosaur footprints, was invited to Huanglonggou and came to the same conclusion.
After the on-site identification of two dinosaur experts, Wang Haijun and Xing Lida, it was confirmed that this was not a "swan claw", but a dinosaur footprint!
The identification of dinosaur experts made Wang Kebai very happy. Because, the dinosaur footprints found in Zhucheng before were only sporadic and vague, and the large-area, high-definition dinosaur footprints were found for the first time in Zhucheng. This will greatly increase the richness of dinosaur resources in Zhucheng. Therefore, Director Wang Kebai and the director immediately organized personnel to take care of Huanglonggou 24 hours a day, and applied for a trial excavation of the footprint group.
Huanglonggou Dinosaur Footprints Reserve
After more than three months of preliminary excavation, the excavation area was 2,600 square meters, and more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints were found. So far, this extremely spectacular group of dinosaur footprints has been displayed in front of people. The proven dinosaur footprint dense area is located on the steep slope on the south side of Huanglonggou, with a width of more than 50 meters from east to west, a length of more than 60 meters from north to south, and a vertical depth of about 15 meters. The entire slope is composed of hard rock formations, and various dinosaur footprints of different shapes, sizes, and depths are densely arranged on the rock formations, which are very well preserved.
According to the preliminary identification of dinosaur experts Wang Haijun and Xing Lida, the footprint group was formed in the early Late Cretaceous more than 100 million years ago. Regardless of the number of dinosaur footprints, the distribution area, and the degree of petrification, it is a rare geological wonder in the world. Moreover, the proven part may only be the tip of the iceberg of the footprint group, that is, the entire Huanglonggou may be dinosaur footprints!
Dinosaur experts Wang Haijun and Xing Lida said: From the dinosaur footprints exposed in Huanglonggou, we can distinguish that there are at least three types of dinosaur footprints here: ornithopods, theropods, and sauropods. Confirmed carnivorous Tyrannosaurus rex and Voidosaurus footprints; Vegetarian duck-billed dragon and ankylosaurus tracks. Among them, the footprints of smaller ornithopods are only about 10 centimeters, the footprints of larger theropods are about 40 centimeters, and the footprints of large sauropods are more than 120 centimeters in diameter.
Wang Haijun and Xing Lida's dinosaur experts deduced from the fact that there are a large number of water ripple relics left on the rock formation of Huanglonggou: about 100 million years ago, Huanglonggou was a nearly dry riverbed and a settlement of many dinosaurs. Hundreds of dinosaurs of all kinds walked over the soft riverbed, leaving behind their footprints of various shapes, and soon, with the onset of the rainy season, the flood brought new sediment to cover these footprints, eventually forming fossilized footprints.
Huanglonggou footprint fossil group
Although the dinosaur footprints in Huanglonggou are densely distributed, there is a certain pattern, that is, most of the dinosaur footprints are from west to east. Xing Lida speculated that one possibility was caused by the attack of ferocious carnivorous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, which prompted a large number of plant-eating dinosaurs to flee eastward in panic. Another possibility is the result of the migration of dinosaur groups, that is, Huanglonggou was a necessary place for dinosaur groups to migrate at that time.
In Huanglonggou, dinosaur footprints are distributed in multiple layers, that is, there are footprints below the footprints. Three layers have now been discovered. Xing Lida said that this situation is extremely rare, and if the footprints of mass migration are found in the lower layer, then the "dinosaur migration theory" will be confirmed. According to Wang Haijun, this group of dinosaur footprints has only been found in Australia before, but the area is small, only a dozen square meters.
The two dinosaur experts believe that the discovery of large-scale dinosaur footprints is of great significance, and it is of great scientific value for the systematic study of the distribution, migration, living habits, walking mode of dinosaurs in Zhucheng area during the Cretaceous period, as well as the changes of paleogeography and paleoenvironment.
The discovery of the dinosaur footprints in Huanglonggou was widely reported by major news media, and soon spread throughout the country and all over the world, attracting wide attention in the industry and great interest of dinosaur enthusiasts.
Screenshot of the Science Times report
Screenshot of the public network report
Al Jazeera - Screenshot of Peninsula Metropolis Daily report
At present, the Huanglonggou dinosaur footprint group has been included in the overall planning of the Zhucheng Cretaceous Dinosaur Geopark, and the Huanglonggou dinosaur "footprint museum" has been built to display the rich and colorful dinosaur culture of Zhucheng in an all-round way.
Introduction to the Huanglonggou Dinosaur Footprint Museum
Dinosaur footprints are fossil relics, and the formation conditions are extremely harsh. Dinosaur footprints need to be left by dinosaurs when they walk on the surface with very moderate humidity, viscosity and granularity, and the layers with footprints should be covered by foreign sediments in a timely manner, and footprint fossils cannot be formed too early or too late. Most of the dinosaur footprints we have found in the world are scattered, and such a clear, complete, densely distributed and huge dinosaur footprint group like Huanglonggou is extremely rare in the world.
This is a "close-up" of dinosaur activities recorded by nature with a natural video recorder, and it is a footprint of natural history, which has special significance and value. It provides important material for further research on the social life and migration of dinosaurs, and the earth's natural environment in the age of dinosaurs.
About the Author:
He Xin is engaged in cultural and museum work and is an associate researcher. He is a member of the Chinese Museums Association, a member of the Chinese Society of Natural History, a member of the Branch of the Vertebrate Paleontology Society of the Chinese Paleontological Society, a member of the Shandong Archaeological Society, and a vice president and director of the Weifang Museum Society. He has published articles in journals such as "Fossils", "Cultural Relics", "Archaeology", "Chinese Museum Newsletter", and "Geological Bulletin".