Dinosaur footprints dating back 100 million years have been discovered in southwestern China after a sharp-eyed diner spotted them in a restaurant's outdoor courtyard.
Several stone pits at the restaurant in Leshan, Sichuan province, contained the footprints of two sauropods, a type of dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous period, said Lida Xing, a paleontologist and associate professor at the China University of Geosciences.Sauropods, known for their long necks and tails, were the largest animals ever to walk the Earth. They could grow to the length of three school buses and were so heavy the ground must have shaken as they walked.
China's rapid development in recent decades has made paleontology -- the study of ancient life through fossil records -- more difficult, Xing said. Before it was a restaurant, the location was used as a chicken farm, with the dinosaur footprints buried by layers of dirt and sand -- shielding them from erosion and weather damage.
As a result,"these footprints were well protected," Xing said."When we went there, we found that the footprints were very deep and quite obvious, but nobody had thought about ."
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Hot 100 First-Timers: Yung Gravy Rickrolls His Way Onto Hot 100 With ‘Betty (Get Money)’.yunggravy notches his first entry on the Billboard Hot100 chart (dated July 23) with “Betty (Get Money)”
Read more »
Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ Tops 100 Million YouTube Views, Propelled by ‘Stranger Things 4’The Kate Bush renaissance, fueled by StrangerThings4, continues to flourish: The official video for “Running Up That Hill” has now surpassed 100 million views on YouTube, more than doubling its total viewership from only two months ago.
Read more »
Physicists Create Microchip 100 Times Faster Than Conventional OnesResearchers at the University of Sussex in England have found a way to create tiny and speedy semiconductors: crinkling graphene or other 2D materials.
Read more »
Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was’ Scores Milestone 10th Week at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100The song is the 10th Hot 100 leader of at least 10 weeks on Columbia Records, the most among all labels.
Read more »
Delta to announce deal for 100 Boeing MAX 10 planesDelta Air Lines will announce a deal for 100 Boeing MAX 10 jets worth around $13.5 billion at list prices at the Farnborough air show on Monday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday.
Read more »
Amazing Fraser-Pryce leads Jamaican clean sweep in women's 100 metresShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce claimed an astonishing fifth world 100 metres title at the age of 35 on Sunday when she clocked 10.67 seconds to edge Shericka Jackson and Elaine Thompson-Herah in a brilliant Jamaican clean sweep.
Read more »