Dashanpu Formation

The Dashanpu dinosaur discovery site is a reference of the Middle to Upper Jurassic in China which is known for its wealth of dinosaur fossils. The dinosaur remains have been found in and around the community Dashanpu (大山铺镇/大山铺镇, Dàshānpū Zhen ), which is located northeast of Sichuan's third largest city of Zigong in the district Da'an.

Geology

The rocks of the Dashanpu Dinosaur Fund shall include four distinct 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 lineup.

The Shaximiao formations are the fossil- rich, the other two are significantly less fossil pregnant and been investigated comparatively little.

Dinosaur discoveries

The Dashanpu Dinosaur Fund office has so far produced mainly sauropods, but also a host of other dinosaur species, among other things, about theropods and Stegosauria. In total, more than 8,000 pieces of bone were unearthed in the area of Dashanpu that bring together nearly 40 tons on the scale.

The fossil finding site was not known until the early 1970s, until a Chinese oil company in 1972 unearthed the so-called Gasosaurus. This was the first of a series of dinosaur finds. Most of the finds are exhibited in the Dinosaur Museum in Zigong ( Zigong kong long Bowuguan ), which was built in the mid-1980s at the site.

Even if the Dashanpu dinosaur reference of a busy "Dinosaur Quarry " is today, so she was at the time of deposit of its rocks a thriving forest. Evidence can be found along with the dinosaur fossils, notably petrified wood. Paleontologists believe that the area was a lake at that time, which was fed by a large river. Dinosaur remains were consequently washed over several million years again and again into the lake, so that the extraordinary Zusammenschwemmung of hundreds of species of dinosaurs came to pass. Based on the fossils, the rocks were at Dashanpu an age of about 168 bis 161 million years dated ( Bathonian to Callovian of the Middle Jurassic ).

The research of Dong Zhiming

Paleontologist Dong Zhiming has made the greatest contributions to the study of the formation and the excavation of fossils. He examined the rock formations for the first time in 1975, after cooking residues in rocks of this area were found at road works.

The actual reference had been damaged during the construction of a plant for the exploitation of the gas field and a parking lot, as Zhiming she saw in 1979 for the first time. In the vast land clearing, he found numerous bone fragments that had come through the work to light. The fossils had been damaged by the work of the bulldozers, and the prospect seemed to have little to bring the work to a standstill as the government had already invested millions of yuan. In 1985, the government finally agreed to end the work. At this time, Zhiming and his team had already recovered more than 100 dinosaur species from the locality, including several rare Sauropodenschädel. One of the found dinosaur was named in honor of both the reference and honor Dong Zhiming Dashanpusaurus dongi.

Flora and fauna of the Dashanpu dinosaur reference of

In addition to the dinosaur finds in Dashanpu numerous other fossils were unearthed. These include fish, amphibians, turtles and marine life such as crocodiles and pterosaurs. Similarly, a mammal -like reptile has been found as well as a member of the subclass Labyrinthodontia.