"This is the iconic canine teeth of giant pandas, and the gums are preserved very well." Recently, experts from the Hunan Provincial Geological Relics Paleobial Fossils Expert Committee (hereinafter referred to as Hunan Fossil Office) entered a base hole at the bottom of a cave about 120 meters deep with the help of the mountain rescue team and successfully collected giant panda fossils.
Staff collecting fossils in caves Photo | Respondent provided
On October 12, Jiupai News contacted Tong Guanghui, director of the Research Department of the Hunan Provincial Geological Museum. He said that as early as August 10, the Mineral Resources Protection and Supervision Department of the Hunan Provincial Department of Natural Resources discovered large animal fossils in a cave in Longshan County, Hunan Province. At that time, they forwarded the news to us, "We initially judged it to be a fossil of giant pandas through the photos."
"After further understanding, the fossil was discovered by the cave exploration and mountain rescue team in Zhangjiajie on August 7 during a cave exploration." Tong Guanghui said that in order to avoid the damage of the fossils, experts from the Hunan Fossil Office rushed to the local area as soon as possible and made full preparations to enter the cave to collect fossils the next day.
Use professional equipment to get holes in the picture | Respondents provided
"We took 6 hours to collect panda fossils on the surface of the silt and sand accumulations. Most of the fossils were left in the local area for custody, and a few important specimens were brought back to Hunan Provincial Geological Museum for research."
Minister Tong said that through cleaning and repair, morphology research, and DNA The identification was confirmed that the fossil was a giant panda fossil. "There will be considered for display in the museum in the later stage and restoration, so that tourists can see the successive image of the evolution of giant pandas in Hunan."
This time, scattered giant panda fossils and scattered bird fossils were collected. After geology and running water, some of the fossils were washed into the branch cave, so when collecting, the mandible bones, leg bones, vertebrae, pubic bones, , etc. were found. Minister Tong Guanghui told Jiupai News that Hunan has always had giant pandas in its geological historical period, including human history. "According to historical records, giant pandas lived until the Qing Dynasty , Hunan ,
"The fossil age is not very ancient. How many years have passed, the DNA is still under research, and the DNA is preserved in a relatively complete way." Tong Guanghui said that the discovery of this fossil can not only further enrich the understanding of the paleogeographic distribution of giant pandas, but also provide materials for supplementing the genetic sequence of ancient giant pandas.
In addition, through the study of cave sediments, the paleo-climate of giant pandas' living period can also be restored. "We hope to reveal the relationship between climate change in Hunan and habitat changes in giant pandas through research."
Jiupai News Intern Reporter Tan Honglu
[Revelation] Please contact the reporter WeChat: linghaojizhe
[Source: Jiupai News]
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