Dashanpu dinosaur site
The dashanpu formation is a reference to the Middle Upper Jurassic in China , because of its wealth of dinosaurs - fossils is known. The dinosaur finds were made in and around the community Dashanpu ( 大 山 鋪鎮 / 大 山 铺镇 , Dàshānpū zhèn ), which is northeast of Sichuan's third largest city, Zigong, in the Da'an district .
geology
The rocks of the Dashanpu dinosaur site comprise four distinguishable rock layers: the lower (= Xia) and the upper (= Shang) Shaximiao Formation, which are often referred to as a single “Shaximiao Formation”, as well as the Zhenchuchong Formation and the Ziliujing formation.
The Shaximiao Formations are the richest in fossils, the other two are significantly less fossil-rich and so far comparatively little researched.
Dinosaur finds
The Dashanpu dinosaur site has so far mainly produced sauropods , but also a large number of other dinosaur species, including theropods and stegosauria . In total, more than 8,000 pieces of bone were excavated in the Dashanpu area, weighing almost 40 tons .
The fossil site was not known until the early 1970s, when a Chinese oil company excavated the so-called Gasosaurus in 1972 . This was the first in a series of dinosaur finds. Most of the finds are exhibited in the Zigong Dinosaur Museum ( Zigong konglong bowuguan ), which was built on the site in the mid-1980s.
Even if the Dashanpu dinosaur site is now a busy “dinosaur quarry”, it was a thriving forest at the time its rocks were deposited. Evidence of this can be found along with the dinosaur fossils, particularly petrified wood. Paleontologists believe that the area was then a lake that was fed by a large river. According to this, dinosaur remains were washed into the lake again and again over several million years, resulting in the extraordinary flooding of hundreds of dinosaur species. Based on the fossils, the rocks were in Dashanpu an age of about 168 to 161 million years dated ( Bathonian to Callovian of the Middle Jurassic).
Dong Zhiming's research
The paleontologist Dong Zhiming made the greatest contributions to the study of the formation and the excavation of the fossils. He examined the rock formations for the first time in 1975, after bone debris was found in the rocks of the area during road works.
The actual site was damaged in the course of the construction of a plant for the exploitation of a gas field and a parking lot when Dong saw it for the first time in 1979. In the extensive clearing he found numerous bone fragments that had come to light during the work. The fossils had been damaged by the work of the bulldozers and the prospect of halting the work seemed slim as the government had already invested millions of yuan . It wasn't until 1985 that the government finally agreed to stop the work. By that time, Dong and his team had recovered more than 100 species of dinosaurs from the site, including several rare sauropod skulls. One of the dinosaurs found was named Dashanpusaurus dongi in honor of both the site and in honor of Dong Zhiming's Dashanpusaurus .
Flora and fauna of the Dashanpu dinosaur site
In addition to the dinosaur finds, numerous other fossils have been unearthed at Dashanpu. These include fish , amphibians , turtles, and marine life such as crocodiles and pterosaurs . A mammal-like reptile and a temnospondyle were also found .
Amphibians
| Amphibians from the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
Mammalian
| Mammalian of the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
Ornithic
| Ornithic from the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
Pterosaurs
| Pterosaurs from the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
Sauropods
| Sauropods from the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
Stegosaurs
| Stegosaurs from the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
Skeleton of Tuojiangosaurus
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Theropods
| Theropods from the Dashanpu dinosaur site | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxa | Occurrence | description | photos |
See also
Web links
- Dong Zhiming description of dashanpu formation (English)
- Dashanpu Dinosaur Quarry . ( The Paleobiology Database , English)