Rare Tyrannosaurus Rex footprint fossils were found in southern China!
Tyrannosaurus Rex is the most famous giant carnivorous dinosaur , distributed in North America in the late Cretaceous. The Tyrannosaurus Rex family where the Tyrannosaurus Rex is located has a wide range of survival and the entire northern continent, and they have left behind many skeleton fossils. A few days ago, Chinese paleontologists announced the tyrannosaurus fossils found in Jiangxi, but not bone fossils, but rare footprint fossils.
Ganzhou big footprints
Ganzhou is located in the southern part of Jiangxi Province and was called Qianzhou in ancient times. Many people's impression of Ganzhou may come from Gannan navel oranges, but in the eyes of paleontologists, Ganzhou is a treasure house of fossils, and a large number of dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus, have been found here.
Many dinosaur fossils in Ganzhou were discovered during infrastructure projects, some were schools, and some were foundations. Many years ago, a local highway was being built in Ganzhou. When workers cleared nearby stones, they found a strange mark on the red sandstone, which looked like a three-fork footprint. People took photos of the mark and contacted Niu Kecheng, executive director of the Yingliang World Stone Natural History Museum. After seeing this strange mark, Niu Kecheng immediately determined that it belonged to a footprint fossil of a dinosaur or a giant creature. When Niu Kecheng wanted to learn more about the fossils, the fossils lost their traces and were scattered among the people.
map notes; the fossils were found in southern China, the picture comes from the Internet
map notes; Tyrannosaurus rex footprint fossils, picture provided by Xing Lida
from the strong killer
Two months later, a fossil enthusiast contacted Xing Lida, a paleontologist at the China University of Geosciences, and told him that someone in the Ganzhou collection circle showed a 58-centimeter-long fossil similar to dinosaur footprints.
After Xing Lida saw the photo of the footprint fossil, he immediately determined that it was left by a large carnivorous dinosaur. After carefully comparing and analyzing the footprints, Xing Lida noticed that the claw marks in the footprints were very sharp, the metatarsoropic pads were well developed, and the second toe of the three toes was the most developed. Interestingly, there was a small eccentric bulge next to the footprints, which was probably left by the first toe.
picture notes; staff are footprint fossils, the picture is provided by Xing Lida
picture notes; the footprint fossils of Tyrannosaurus rex are being cleaned, the picture is provided by Xing Lida
picture notes; for the analysis of the soles of Tyrannosaurus rex, the picture is provided by Xing Lida
After comparing the footprint fossils left by the large carnivorous dinosaurs, Xing Lida believes that the dinosaurs that left this footprint is a kind of large tyrannosaurus. Coincidentally, just not far from the discovery of dinosaur footprint fossils, paleontologists once discovered a large tyrannosaurus, which is the Qianzhou dragon. Based on footprints, the dinosaur's body length is more than 7.5 meters, and this length is also consistent with the length of the adult Qianzhou dragon. All information points to the fossils that leave footprints is Qianzhou Dragon (Qianzhouaurush).
picture notes; Restoration of Qianzhou Dragon, author: Zhao Chuang
After comparative research, a research team composed of scholars such as Xing Lida, Yingliang World Stone Natural History Museum Niu Kecheng, and Martin G.Lockley, director of the Footprint Museum of the University of Colorado in the United States, published a research paper in the academic journal "Science Bulletin", and the restoration of related research became the cover of the magazine.
picture notes; the cover of "Science Bulletin", picture provided by Xing Lida
related research not only describes and compares the characteristics of dinosaur footprint fossils, but also discusses the distribution of tyrannosaurus footprints in the world.Before the discovery of Tyrannosaurus footprint fossils in Ganzhou, paleontologists only discovered Tyrannosaurus rex footprint fossils in North America and Canada. Most of the dinosaur footprint fossils discovered in China were concentrated in Jurassic and Early Cretaceous , and there was a lack of footprints of large carnivorous dinosaurs.
The significance of discovery
Imagine: in Ganzhou area 66 million years ago, a strong Qianzhou dragon strode on the soft river beach. When its three-toed big feet were stepped on the ground, due to the weight of its body, the whole big feet were shallowly sunken into the mud and sand. As the Qianzhou dragon walked forward step by step, a series of clear three-toed big footprints were left behind it. This Qianzhou dragon did not know that 66 million years later, the footprints it left inadvertently would turn into fossils left on the stone, and it was actually studied by a group of animals that called themselves "Homosa". It also reproduced its appearance back then.
Picture Note; Tyrannosaurus Rex Footprints and Creator Drawings. Zhang Haozhen
This discovery in Ganzhou is the first time that Tyrannosaurus footprint fossils were discovered in China and even Asia. It is of great significance to study the distribution and evolution of dinosaur fauna in the late Cretaceous period in southern China. The fossil is currently collected in the Yingliang World Stone Natural History Museum in Nan'an City, Fujian Province and will be open to the public in the future.
picture notes; Tyrannosaurus rex footprint fossil press conference, pictures are from the Internet
picture notes: Yingliang World Stone Natural History Museum that preserves footprint fossils, pictures are from the Internet
Thanks to paleontologist Mr. Xing Lida for providing information and pictures
pictures / Xing Lida
text / Paleontology Exploration (Jiang Hong)
Typeline/Paleontology Exploration
