Dinosaur footprints found in Beijing’s suburb

Updated: 2012-01-13 15:45

(chinadaily.com.cn)

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 Dinosaur footprints found in Beijing’s suburb

 

Hundreds of dinosaur footprints from the Late Jurassic (about 140 million to 150 million years ago) have been found along the core zone of Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark by Zhang Jianping, a geologist from China University of Geosciences during his field work late 2011.

The tracks range in length from 15 to 60 centimeters and were laid about 150 million years ago in what is now the Yanqing Silicified Wood National Geopark, near 15 kilometres from the town of Beijing’s north suburban Yanqing county.

"As they are rare, high-speed theropod tracks reveal aspects of their paleoethology,” said Zhang Jianping. “The dinosaur tracks from Yanqing constitute the first evidence of dinosaurs in Beijing and as the excavation continues, there could be more footprint findings.”

 

Dinosaur footprints found in Beijing’s suburb 

A dinosaur geopark will be built in the area where the dinosaur footprints are found, according to Yuan Guixu, director of Yanqing Tourism Administration. “Once the dinosaur park is completed, it will open to the tourists,” said Yuan.