Liaoning fossils from European collection "homecoming"
Curved-footed hot river bird
Fossils resembling ornithischians
Northeast News Network News On the morning of January 13, the "Ceremony of Receiving Fossils from Western Liaoning Donated by Europe" was held in the Academic Lecture Hall of The Liaoning Paleontological Museum. Leaders of the Department of Geological Environment of the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Office of the National Expert Committee on Paleontological Fossils, the Chinese Paleontological Society, the Land and Resources Department of Liaoning Province, Shenyang Customs, the Liaoning Provincial Fossil Resources Conservation Administration and other departments, and experts and scholars from research institutions and universities such as the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jilin University, Northeastern University, Shenyang Normal University and other research institutions and universities attended the event. The leaders and expert representatives jointly unveiled the return fossils, experts identified specimens on the spot, and the participants also saw the style of these precious fossils.
The 8 precious fossils donated by European collectors include 7 feathered dinosaurs and 1 original bird fossil. Among them, four are model specimens of feathered dinosaurs (such as Xu's Dawn bird, Short-feathered Chinese feathered dragon, Sun's silk bird) or primitive birds (Curved Foot Re river bird) that have been published in important international academic journals in recent years, which have great scientific value. Among them, the model specimen of "Dawn bird" has been published in international authoritative academic journals and British nature, and its academic value is extremely high; the fossil of "Hesper's near bird" is an important supplement to the world's earliest feathered dinosaur published by the research group of Shenyang Normal University in 2009 in the British nature; the remaining 3 specimens to be studied (Chinese bird dragon undetermined species, etc.) also have important research value.
It is understood that since the State Council promulgated the "Regulations on the Protection of Paleontological Fossils" and other laws and regulations in 2010, the legalization of fossil protection in China has become increasingly popular and has produced positive repercussions abroad. In order to support the conservation of fossils in China, especially in Liaoning, on January 23, 2017, The French fossil collector Mr. Esquire and others commissioned the Belgian dinosaur scientist Professor Godfroth to write a letter to Professor Sun Ge, director of the Liaoning Paleontological Museum, and offered to donate 8 important fossil specimens produced in Liaoning that they collected and studied in Europe to the Liaoning Paleontological Museum in China free of charge.
After the Liaoning Provincial Land and Resources Department studied and submitted to the Ministry of Land and Resources for approval, it was agreed to receive this batch of precious fossil specimens and have them in the collection of the Liaoning Paleontological Museum. On October 30, 2017, a Chinese receiving delegation composed of Guo Jie, director of the Liaoning Provincial Fossil Administration, and Sun Ge, director of the Liaoning Paleontological Museum, with the assistance of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium, officially held the "Gift of Chinese Fossils Back to China - Fossil Handover Ceremony" with European donors at the Royal Institute of Natural History of Belgium (Brussels). Xiang Shihai, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium, and Piska, director of the Royal Institute of Natural History of Belgium, attended the handover ceremony. The eight fossils were safely transported back to Shenyang from Belgium in mid-November. With the strong assistance of Shenyang Customs and the Office of the National Paleontological Fossil Expert Committee, all the fossils arrived safely at the Liaoning Paleontological Museum in late December.
The Liaoning Paleontological Museum is the largest paleontological museum in China, jointly built by the Land and Resources Department of Liaoning Province and Shenyang Normal University. Since its opening in May 2011, the museum has received more than 1.5 million domestic and foreign visitors, becoming one of the important windows for cultural construction in Liaoning Province and making important contributions to the popularization of science in China and Liaoning. The donation and smooth reception of fossil specimens in Liaoning is an important achievement achieved by the Liaoning Provincial Department of Land and Resources in guiding the Liaoning Provincial Fossil Resources Administration and the Liaoning Paleontological Museum in implementing the national "Regulations on the Protection of Paleontological Fossils" and other laws and regulations, and is also a concrete embodiment of the support of foreign collectors and research experts for the protection of fossils in China. The return of the above-mentioned Liaoning fossil specimens will effectively promote the research and scientific popularization of liaoning paleontological fossils, and will also better serve the scientific and cultural construction of Liaoning.