Unleashing a Prehistoric Legacy: Zigong Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site Roars into Sichuan’s Geological Heritage Hall of Fame
Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site in Zigong Selected as Global Geological Heritage Site
On September 3, the Chinese Academy of Sciences held a press conference in Nanjing, announcing that the Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site in Zigong has been selected as one of the second batch of 100 global geological heritage sites by the International Union of Geological Sciences.
The Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site in Zigong has become the first geological heritage site in Sichuan to be included in the list. What makes this site unique? What is its value? How will it be protected and studied in the next step?
The Two “Most”s of the Site
Filling the gap in the world’s dinosaur discovery and evolution history
The Dashanpu Dinosaur Fossil Site in Zigong was first discovered in 1972. In the nearly 3,000 square meters of excavated area, more than 200 dinosaurs and tens of thousands of other vertebrate fossils have been obtained, and 26 genera and 29 species have been named, including sauropods, theropods, ornithopods, stegosaurus and other dinosaurs, as well as cartilaginous fish, bony fish, amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mammal-like reptiles and many other vertebrate fossils.
“The Dashanpu dinosaur fossil site is unique. It reflects a rare biodiversity that is extremely rare in the global fossil record of the same period.” Zeng Xiaoyun, director of the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, used two “most”s to introduce the uniqueness of the heritage site to reporters.
The densest dinosaur fossils are buried here. The dinosaur fossils are stacked and most of them are well preserved, including the best-preserved true sauropod dinosaur in the world, the Lishi Shulong, and the most well-preserved primitive stegosaurus in the world, the Taibai Huayangosaurus. “It not only fills the gap in the world’s dinosaur evolution history of the Middle Jurassic dinosaur fossils, but also provides extremely valuable fossil materials for the study of the early systematic evolution of dinosaurs in the world.” Zeng Xiaoyun said.
Playing the “Scientific Research” and “Popular Science” Cards Well
Make every effort to build an international dinosaur exhibition and research center
Geological heritage is precious and non-renewable material that faithfully records the 4.6 billion years of evolutionary history of the Earth and is a base for geologists to conduct scientific research.
“It’s not easy to be selected.” Zeng Xiaoyun told reporters that in early 2023, the second batch of 100 IUGS geological heritage sites in the world began to be applied for. A total of 10 Chinese geological heritage sites participated in the application, of which 3 were selected, 6 were postponed, and 1 was rejected. After strict selection by top experts in the field of geosciences around the world and competition with 174 candidate sites from 64 countries, it was announced at the 37th International Geological Congress on August 27 this year after more than a year.
Ouyang Hui has been committed to promoting the application of Zigong Dinosaur Site for World Natural Heritage since 1990. He recalled that the site was listed in the “Candidate List of Geological and Paleontological Sites for the World Heritage List” by the World Heritage Committee in 1992, and was officially approved to join the World Geopark Network in 2008. This time, the inclusion of the site in the list of global geological heritage sites announced by the International Union of Geological Sciences means that the scientific value, research level, and protection level of the site have been widely recognized by the international geological community, and it has taken a big step towards the goal of World Natural Heritage.
With this honor, how will Zigong, the ”hometown of dinosaurs”, make good use of this advantage to build an international highland for dinosaur display and research?
“We will continue to strengthen the inheritance, protection and utilization of cultural and natural heritage, apply modern scientific and technological means such as artificial intelligence, big data, and virtual technology, use ‘Science+’ to establish a dinosaur digital museum, and strengthen digital integration and innovative development; we will also expand our ‘circle of friends’ and continue to strengthen cooperation with international geological research institutions.” Zeng Xiaoyun said.
Chen Jinhong, director of the Zigong Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, revealed to reporters that Zigong will make every effort to build the core area of the Zigong Dinosaur Characteristic Cultural Tourism Industrial Park. At present, it has jointly built the Sichuan-Chongqing Provincial and Ministerial Key Laboratory of Paleontology and Paleoenvironment Coevolution with the Regional Geological Survey Team of the Sichuan Provincial Geological Bureau and the 208 Hydrogeological Engineering Geological Team of the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Geological Exploration, which will be put into use within the year; adopt external recruitment, workstation construction or flexible introduction methods to establish a high-level expert team with dinosaur museums as the main body and multi-polar support. “We will also continue to promote popular science education with original special exhibitions, accelerate the renovation and upgrading of the main exhibition hall of the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, and are now soliciting conceptual design plans from around the world.” Chen Jinhong said.
You Hailu, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that Zigong can take this opportunity to strengthen the research on the Dashanpu dinosaur fauna and lay a better foundation for the development of the global dinosaur industry.