The Provincial Geological Survey recently 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, to carry out the investigation and identification of dinosaur footprint fossils in northern Shaanxi in Yan'an, and 8 important dinosaur footprint fossils were newly discovered, of which the theropod footprints found in Ganquan County were up to 60.5 centimeters, which is the largest known theropod footprint in China.
The dinosaur footprint fossils found by experts in Ganquan County are diverse, among them, the longest theropod footprint is 60.5cm, which is the largest known theropod footprint in China, the smallest length is less than 3cm, which is one of the smallest known theropod footprints in China; the sauropod footprint is the first record in Shaanxi Province; the turtle footprint is rarely found in the Jurassic in Asia; the symbiotic ruins 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.
Li Jianjun, researcher at the Beijing Museum of Natural History
The degree of exquisite preservation of fossils is very rare in the country and even in the world, so sometimes we joke that we all see fingerprints. These footprints found in Yan'an are actually a membrane formed by dinosaurs stepping on mudstone and finally filling with sandstone. The mudstone is very fine, and it can preserve a particularly exquisite surface trace. This discovery in Yan'an actually filled a gap in Shaanxi, and in geological history, it also filled this gap in the middle of the Jurassic.
It is understood that our province 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, and have successively found dinosaur footprint fossils in Yulin, Shangluo and other places. Among them, northern Shaanxi, as one of the most densely distributed areas of dinosaur footprint fossils in China, has the characteristics of wide geographical and stratigraphic distribution, diverse combination forms, and great scientific research value. According to the survey found by the Provincial Geological Survey Institute, 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.
Xi'an Geological Survey Center, China Geological Survey
Professor-level senior engineer Li Rongshe
We are very confident that we will find large skeleton fossils of dinosaurs in northern Shaanxi in the future, because the footprints we found this time are only the tip of the iceberg, which is worth studying and can do a lot of work.
Professor Wang Xunxun, China University of Geosciences (Beijing).
When we study paleontology, in addition to reproducing the evolutionary process of the entire organism, a very important idea is to enlighten us from the entire process of biological evolution that we should do two things, the first must protect the environment, and the second must live in harmony with other organisms.
Source: Starting Point News App
Reporter: Zhang Baidong, Yuanyuan Liu Quanfeng