Lufeng discovers about 3-year-old dinosaur larvae fossils · Tracking | Lufeng this dinosaur baby was drowned by floods

In the Early Jurassic strata in Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, about 200 million years ago, scientists discovered a drowned 3-year-old sauropod dinosaur fossil. The discovery was recently published in the international journal Acta Geologica Sinica.

This dinosaur baby fossil is about 1.7 meters long and includes part of the skull, complete cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae and metacarpal bones, as well as distal femur and proximal tibia. Its teeth are leaf-shaped, and it can be speculated that it is a kind of herbivorous dinosaur. Its food is mainly the young leaves of ferns and conifers.

"The bone histological study shows that this dinosaur is in the early stage of ontogeny. We compare it with other primitive sauropod larvae in the world and think it is about 3 years old." Bi Shundong, one of the authors of the paper and a professor at Yunnan University, said .

Why are fossils of baby dinosaurs rarely found? Bi Shundong explained that dinosaurs generally become adults at the age of 20, and their lifespan is about 40 to 50 years old. Their larvae are similar to human children, and their bones are slender, so they are not easy to be preserved in the stratum. Therefore, the academic community knows the morphological characteristics and individual development of dinosaur babies. very little.

Judging from the unearthed situation, "this dinosaur baby may have been drowned by flooding". Bi Shundong said that it must have struggled desperately in the mud, but it finally sank. But it is precisely because of this "abnormal death" that most of its skeletons are relatively intact, so we have the opportunity to study it.

It is worth mentioning that scholars also found through research that the specimen does not belong to any known genus, but may belong to a new family of sauropod dinosaurs.

Lufeng, Yunnan is one of the areas where the most dinosaur fossils have been found in my country. The Early Jurassic dinosaurs discovered there have also become the oldest known dinosaur group in my country. Xinhua News Agency reporter Yue Ranran

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Lufeng discovered 4 sauropod dinosaurs

Since the second wave of Lufeng dinosaur fossil excavation research that started in the mid-1990s, the popularity has not diminished. This fossil burial area located in the southwest continues to produce new discoveries and research results, which make the dinosaur family living here in the Mesozoic era continue to "add up" and inject new vitality into the development of scientific research and cultural tourism.

Rich reserves

Known as the "Dinosaur Graveyard"

Since 1938, tens of thousands of dinosaur bones and fossil fragments have been unearthed in Lufeng, and more than 120 complete individuals have been assembled. There is only one place, Laochangqing, in Dinosaur Mountain Town (now the Dinosaur Valley of the World). According to the burial density of the strata, scientists predict that at least 400 individual dinosaur fossils are still buried underground. In the Donghe and Chuanjie river canyons, the burial density of dinosaur fossils has amazed vertebrate paleontologists from all over the world.

After 80 years of excavation and research, the Lufeng dinosaur fossils have been divided into three fauna by experts: "Lufeng Lisaurus Fauna", "Chuanjie Dinosaur Fauna" and "Mamenxisaurus Fauna". Among them, the "Lufeng Lisaurus Fauna" has laid the foundation for the research of vertebrate paleontology in China, and Lufeng has been called "dinosaur cemetery" by domestic and foreign academic circles. Experts believe that the Lufeng Basin is the hometown of dinosaurs in China and one of the world's most famous sources of dinosaur fossils. "Chuanjie Dinosaur Fauna" and "Lufeng Lisaur Fauna" together can constitute a complete series of Jurassic dinosaur fauna evolution and migration.

As the only place in the world where three sets of dinosaur fossils of early, middle and late Jurassic have been found on the same section, the Lufeng Ana dinosaur fossil site has great scientific research and popular science value: Chuanjie Basin, Lufeng Area With a complete and continuous Jurassic section, dinosaur fossils and associated paleontological fossils are huge in number and variety, continuous in time and spanning a large range, which is very rare in the world. It is another world-class dinosaur cemetery in my country after Zigong Dashanpu. , the quantity and quality of its fossil preservation may exceed that of the famous Utah Dinosaur Monument.

Dinosaur fossils and associated animal fossils unearthed from Dawa in the Lufeng Basin are collectively referred to as "Lufeng Liosaurus Fauna". Among the dinosaur fossils that have been unearthed, there are three types of lizards, coelurosaurs, and ornithosaurs, reaching 25 genera and 35 species, representing Xu's Lufengosaurus, giant Lufengosaurus, Jinshansaurus, Geodosaurus, and horses. Menxisaurus, Yunnansaurus, etc., are one of the most abundant and complete ancient fauna discovered so far in my country and even in the world. The new types of dinosaur fossils discovered by Ana have greatly enriched the family of "Lufeng Lisaur fauna". Three sets of Jurassic dinosaur fauna fossils and associated paleontological fossils have successively appeared on the same series of sections in Ana, which are unique in the world. The evolution from prosauropods to sauropods and theropods, And the rare spectacle in which herbivorous dinosaurs, carnivorous dinosaurs, vertebrate fossils and invertebrate fossils are buried in one place, it will definitely give an insight into the evolution, migration, regional distribution of Jurassic dinosaur fauna, as well as prosauropods and sauropods. Contributed to the study of important issues such as affinities between classes.

continuous discovery

The dinosaur family is still growing

In 2007, in the Early Jurassic strata in the periphery of the core area of ​​Lufeng Dinosaur Mountain, scientists from Yunnan Province discovered a small carnivorous dinosaur fossil from the same period as Lufengosaurus. After nearly 7 years of excavation, restoration and scientific research, and with the support of the Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Lufeng County Bureau of Land and Resources, the current scientific research has achieved new results. On October 27, 2014, "Science China" published the article "Asia's First Coelophysis Dinosaur Discovered in Lufeng, Yunnan", the article originated from You Hai, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences A study by Lu et al., which found the first coelophysis dinosaur in Asia, has once again enriched the knowledge of this fauna.

Coelophysis belongs to the basal theropod dinosaurs, which are small in size and only found in the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, and have rich fossil records in North America and Africa. You Hailu et al. discovered a well-preserved new genus of Coelophysis in the Early Jurassic strata of Lufeng, Lufeng Panguraptor, which is very important for the study of the evolution and distribution of this type of dinosaur, and even the early The evolution of theropod dinosaurs is of great significance. The Pangaraptor specimen preserves a relatively complete head and back skeleton, with a body length of about 2 meters and a height of about 0.5 meters. It is likely to be close to an adult individual at the time of death.

In August 2018, "Scientific Reports" published an article reporting that You Hailu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wang Yaming, China University of Geosciences, and their colleagues found three buried together in Lufeng County. Supplementary Skeletal Specimens. These skeletal specimens have been assembled into an almost completely preserved sauropod dinosaur. The top of its posterior dorsal nerve spine has a laterally expanded plate-like top, and the sacrum has four sacral vertebrae. Relatively broad scapula, elongated The pubic plate accounts for about 40% of the total length of the pubic bone. Archaeologists believe that it is a new genus of sauropods, named Cheng's star dragon.

In September 2018, "Scientific Reports" reported online the discovery of another new genus of Lufeng basal sauropods, Sun's Yizhousaurus. The species name was dedicated to Chinese vertebrate paleontologist Sun Ailing to commemorate her Outstanding contributions made by Lufeng and the China Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology. Sun's Yizhou dragon was discovered and excavated by the Land and Resources Bureau of Lufeng County in 2002. It is currently mounted and displayed in the "Lufeng World Dinosaur Valley" museum. The specimen was found in the Chuanjie Basin adjacent to the Lufeng Basin, and the fossil site is located in the uppermost part of the Zhangjia Depression of the Lufeng Formation. The results of phylogenetic analysis show that Yizhouosaurus belongs to sauropods, which is more advanced than all other basal sauropods known so far in Lufeng.

Zhang Qiannan, the first author of the article and a doctoral student at the Institute of Paleo-Spine, introduced that the skull shape of Yizhousaurus Sun's is particularly special, such as the appearance of the labial tooth plate in the upper jaw, the reduction of the anterior orbital foramen and the lateral mandibular foramen, and the vertical lacrimal bone. Foot type classes are closer. The reports of the new species not only provide a rare and relatively complete and three-dimensional skull morphological information, but also enrich the diversity of Lufeng and China's basal sauropods. At the same time, this study also shows that the differences in the mosaic evolution of skulls between different genera and species of sauropods are more complex than previously recognized, and Yizhousaurus represents an important part of the evolution to the origin of sauropods. ring.

Discoveries continue, and the Lufeng dinosaur family is still growing.