"The four directions are known as the universe, and the ancient world is known as the present." In the vast history of life on Earth, dinosaurs were once the overlords of Earth. In Yunnan, as early as 200 million years ago, there were traces of dinosaur life.
In 1938, Mr. Yang Zhongjian, the father of Chinese dinosaur research, excavated China's first complete dinosaur fossil specimen "Xu's Lufeng Dragon" in the Lufeng Basin, and since then Chuxiong Lufeng has become the fossil warehouse of the world-famous dinosaur town.
In the winter of 1938, paleontologists found a special oil lamp in the homes of local villagers, and the base was made of fossilized vertebrae, which the villagers called the keel oil lamp. According to the clues of the villagers, paleontologists came to the place where the "keel" was found and found a large number of dinosaur fossils.
Wang Tao, director of the Dinosaur Fossil Conservation Research Center in Lufeng City, said: "One of them found was Xu's Lufeng Dragon, the other was a giant Lufeng Dragon, and they also found some scattered fossils. ”
In those days, Chinese's concept of "dragon" was still stuck in the mythological totem. Paleontological researchers such as Yang Zhongjian can find complete dinosaur fossils from hundreds of millions of years ago on Chinese soil, which is of epoch-making significance. Mr. Yang Zhongjian named the most completely preserved dinosaur collected in 1938 as Xu's Lufeng Dragon.
It should be known that it is not easy for the same individual dinosaur fossil integrity to reach 50%, and this Xu Lufeng dragon, which was named in 1941, has a skeleton integrity of more than 90%, and Xu Lufeng dragon is the first dinosaur Chinese to independently discover, excavate, study and install on display. Therefore, Xu's Lufeng Dragon is also known as the first dragon in China.
Mr. Yang Zhongjian once wrote a poem for Xu's Lu Fenglong: Ten million years ago, Yi Xiong, given the name Xu Shi Lu Feng Long, planted two continents in Fanning, the short and three stacks of the end, the reconstruction is especially seen in the Zheng Rong state, the image should have a hun ancient style, three hundred bones a volume of records, pay and Zhiyin to investigate the similarities and differences.
Ten million years ago, the first generation of Xiong, given the name Xu Shi Lu Feng Dragon, planted Two Continents of Fanning Limited Land, Short And Three Stacks ended, recreated especially to see the Zheng Rong state, the image should have a hun ancient style, three hundred bones a volume of records, Pay and Zhiyin to investigate the similarities and differences.
At the excavation site of dinosaurs, the same area is buried with early, middle and late Jurassic plant-eating and carnivorous dinosaurs.
Wang Tao, director of the Dinosaur Fossil Conservation Research Center in Lufeng City, said: "These are all from the same individual behind me, this very long part is a rib, basically three meters long, and now this location, according to the exploration if all opened, experts in previous years estimated that there are probably hundreds of dinosaurs." ”
With so many dinosaurs buried deep underground, they witnessed the end of an era and the prosperity of the population of that era.
In 1958, the General Post Office of China issued a set of three paleontological commemorative stamps, and Xu's Lufeng Dragon became the protagonist of the world's first dinosaur stamp. The picture includes the skeleton of Xu's Lufeng Dragon and the ecological restoration map, with a face value of 8 points.
Melon face, pointed chin, swan neck, plus a pair of large long legs. Who would have thought that the current popular "high-level face" was vividly reflected in Lu Fenglong's body.
Wang Tao, director of the Lufeng Dinosaur Fossil Conservation Research Center, said: "There are 76 dinosaurs on display in our exhibition hall, and among these 76 dinosaurs, there is a Pangu Thief that is as small as more than 1 meter, which is very dexterous. The type of Xu's Lufeng dragon is about 6 meters, and the type of Jinshan dragon is about 8 meters, and these dinosaurs of different shapes and sizes are very distinctive in the exhibition hall. ”
Scientists speculate that Lu Fenglong was plant-eating, not carnivorous. It seems that the important secret for these dinosaur stars to maintain a good body is to keep their mouths shut. Having a good body is easy to be jealous. The biggest threat to Lufeng dragon comes from the same fauna, the carnivorous dinosaur that coexists with it, the Chinese dragon. Paleontologists once found marks on the ribs of a Lufeng dragon that had been bitten through by the teeth of a Chinese dragon. It seems that this place in Yunnan, since hundreds of millions of years ago, has been a place where animals must fight.
Dinosaurs occupy a very important place in the entire history of the earth, and it was once the overlord of the earth. Human history is so short and insignificant for dinosaur history that if the life history of dinosaurs is considered to be one year, then humans only exist for five days. Although fossils can't speak, they convey many of the earth's secrets. It's all begun, it's all just begun.
Reporter: Chen Lu
Camera: Kim Ji-kyun Chang Eun-ho
EDIT: Leave ink