Source: First News
Textured skin marks on dinosaur feet found in Ganquan County, Yan'an City.
Symbiotic remains of dinosaurs, crocodiles and turtles found in Ganquan County, Yan'an City. Courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Geological Survey
On November 1, the reporter learned from the Shaanxi Provincial Geological Survey that from October 20 to 21, the institute invited more than 30 experts from 7 units, including the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to carry out the investigation and identification of dinosaur footprint fossils in northern Shaanxi in Yan'an City, and made new breakthroughs, and found 8 important dinosaur footprint fossils, of which theropod footprint found in Ganquan County was the longest 60.5 cm, which is the largest known theropod footprint in China.
The identification team inspected the fossil sites of dinosaur footprints located in Luojiagou, Ganquan Grand Canyon and Ansai Liugou in Ganquan County, Yan'an City. The dinosaur footprint fossil combinations found in Ganquan County are diverse, the smallest theropod footprint is less than 3 centimeters long, which is one of the smallest known theropod footprints in China; sauropod footprints are the first recorded in our province; turtle footprints are rarely found in the Jurassic in Asia; and the symbiotic remains of dinosaurs, crocodiles and turtles are extremely rare in China. The fossils of dinosaur footprints found in Luojiagou and Fengjiawan in Ganquan County are of a very high value level, and some fossils also preserve extremely rare skin texture marks on dinosaur feet.
According to the expert identification group, northern Shaanxi is one of the most densely distributed areas of dinosaur footprint fossils in China, and the dinosaur footprint fossils found have the characteristics of wide geographical and stratigraphic distribution, diverse combination forms, and great scientific research value, which contain important information on the survival, evolution and environmental changes of the Mesozoic dinosaur fauna, and are precious and non-renewable geological relics resources. The dinosaur footprint fossils discovered this time expand the geographical and stratigraphic distribution of dinosaur footprint fossils in China, and provide a conclusive basis for the next step of searching for dinosaur skeleton fossils in northern Shaanxi.
It is understood that our province is rich in paleontological fossil resources and is one of the few areas in China with more complete fossil types. Since the discovery of China's first dinosaur footprint fossil in Shenmu in northern Shaanxi in 1929, Shaanxi has successively found dinosaur footprint fossils in Yulin City, Shangluo City and other places. At present, there are 15 dinosaur footprint fossils in northern Shaanxi, accounting for 79% of the province's discoveries, including 8 in Yulin City and 7 in Yan'an City.