Big, bird-like dinosar fossil protected
Updated: 2012-04-09 12:54
(English.news.cn)
|
||||||||
HOHHOT - China has listed the remains of a big, bird-like dinosaur as a national gem for top protection, said authorities in the northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where the fossil was found seven years ago.
The skeletal remains were accidentally discovered in the Erlian basin in Inner Mongolia in April 2005.
The feathered, but flightless "Gigantoraptor erlianensis" was eight meters long, over five meters tall and weighed about 1.4 tonnes.
Researchers said the dinosaur lived some 85 million years ago and died as a young adult in its 11th year, indicating it would have been much larger had it lived to a full-sized adult.
"National protection of the fossil is crucial to further research on the origin of life, biological evolution and climate changes," said a spokesman of the land and resources bureau in Erenhot city.
Meanwhile, he said the move would help improve public awareness of heritage protection and crack down upon unauthorized excavation and smuggling of fossils that were once rampant in Erenhot, a city on the Chinese-Mongolian border known as "dinosaur town."
The dinosaur fossil was among the first items included on Ministry of Land and Resources' list of fossils for protection, said Jia Yueming, curator of China geological museum.
The list will be expanded to eventually include 400 kinds of animal fossils, he said.
- 'Taken 2' grabs movie box office crown
- Rihanna's 'Diamonds' tops UK pop chart
- Fans get look at vintage Rolling Stones
- Celebrities attend Power of Women event
- Ang Lee breaks 'every rule' to make unlikely new Life of Pi film
- Rihanna almost thrown out of nightclub
- 'Dark Knight' wins weekend box office
- 'Total Recall' stars gather in Beverly Hills
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Supplies pour into isolated villages |
All-out efforts to save lives |
American abroad |
Industry savior: Big boys' toys |
New commissioner
|
Liaoning: China's oceangoing giant |
Today's Top News
Health new priority for quake zone
Xi meets US top military officer
Japan's boats driven out of Diaoyu
China mulls online shopping legislation
Bird flu death toll rises to 22
Putin appoints new ambassador to China
Japanese ships blocked from Diaoyu Islands
Inspired by Guan, more Chinese pick up golf
US Weekly
Beyond Yao
|
Money power |