120 million-year-old dinosaur footprint fossils discovered in Lufeng, Yunnan

According to CCTV News, researchers discovered a large number of early Cretaceous dinosaur footprint fossils in Liyuan Village, Dinongshan Town, Lufeng City, Yunnan Province. On-site stratigraphic age determination showed that although the rock layer where the dinosaur footprints are located is more than 120 million years old, many of the footprints on site are still very clear. This discovery proves to a large extent that during the Cretaceous period, there were still a rich and large group of dinosaurs living in the Lufeng area. Currently, site surveys and related studies are still in progress.

These dinosaur footprint fossils were first discovered by two local villagers when they went to the mountains to herd sheep, and they were reported to the natural resources department. As the scope of surveys expands, more and more dinosaur footprint fossils continue to be discovered. As of May 26, researchers have discovered more than 400 dinosaur footprint fossils.

Wang Tao, director of the Lufeng Dinosaur Fossil Conservation and Research Center, said, “There are three types of these footprints. One is made by a large sauropod, similar to Diplodocus; the other is made by a type similar to Tyrannosaurus Rex; and another The type looks like the footprints of Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus."
Dinosaur Mountain Town in Lufeng City is the place where dinosaur footprint fossils are concentrated. Since the 1990s, well-known Chinese paleontologists and geologists such as Xing Lida and Lu Junchang have successively discovered local shell mountains, Zhuqingkou Reservoir, Dali Shu Village and Dinosaur footprint fossils have been found in Lijiacun and other places.