Why is it said that the Summer Resort was originally "Jurassic Park"? What was discovered at the Summer Resort?

Today I will bring you the discovery of dinosaur footprints in the summer resort. I hope it will be helpful to you.

Many people must be very familiar with the Summer Resort. Although they may not have been there in person, they must have seen it in history books. This was a palace built during the Kangxi, Yongzong and Qian Dynasties of the Qing Dynasty. It took a long time Over the past few decades, it has integrated the characteristics of various regions in our country, and you can enjoy a lot of scenery here. However, recently someone discovered that the Mountain Resort is actually a "Jurassic Park". What does this mean?

1. Introduction to the Mountain Resort

Chengde Mountain Resort is A famous tourist attraction in China, it is also a world cultural heritage, a national AAAAA tourist attraction, a national key cultural relic protection unit, and one of the four famous gardens in China.

Chengde Summer Resort, also known as "Chengde Palace" or "Rehe Palace", is located in the north of the city center of Chengde, Hebei Province, on the narrow valley on the west bank of the Wulie River. It was the place where emperors of the Qing Dynasty spent summer vacations and handled government affairs. .

The Summer Resort was built in 1703 and took 89 years to complete after the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties of the Qing Dynasty. The Summer Resort adopts the style of a simple and elegant mountain village, takes the true nature of natural mountains and rivers, and absorbs the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River and the north of the Great Wall. It has become the largest ancient imperial palace in China.

The Summer Resort is divided into four parts: the palace area, the lake area, the plain area, and the mountain area. The entire villa has water in the southeast and mountains in the northwest. It is the epitome of China's natural landforms and a glorious milestone in the history of Chinese gardens. , is a masterpiece of Chinese classical garden art and the highest example of Chinese classical garden.

On March 4, 1961, the Summer Resort was announced as one of the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Together with the Summer Palace, Humble Administrator's Garden, and Liuyuan, which were also announced at the same time, it was named one of China's four famous gardens. In 1994 It was included in the World Heritage List in December of that year.

2. Was the Summer Resort turned out to be "Jurassic Park"? The study of dinosaur footprints in Chengde area was completed

On the morning of December 6, scientists from China, the United States and Australia announced that their research team Completed research on dinosaur footprints in Chengde, Hebei Province. Surprisingly, most of the footprints are distributed on the grounds of Chengde Summer Resort, a world-famous Chinese royal garden. It is a rare combination of paleontological remains and fossils with human history. case. These dinosaur footprints are large in number and well-preserved, and are of great value for studying the evolution of dinosaurs.

Although the discovery of dinosaur footprints at Chengde Summer Resort has always attracted attention from all walks of life. Since 2007, the team of Xing Lida, associate professor at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), has successively conducted detailed analyzes of a large number of dinosaur footprint fossils in Madigou, Summer Resort, Xumi Fushou Temple and Putuo Zongcheng Temple (Little Potala Palace). The research not only enriches the fossil record of dinosaur footprints in China, but also provides further strong evidence for the dinosaur activities in the latest Jurassic period in Chengde.

Why do dinosaur footprints appear on cultural buildings? It turns out that the origin of these footprint fossils - Madigou, produced paving stones. Xing Lida's team focused on the Madigou footprint site, which is about 800 meters above sea level. There are residential buildings on both the west and north slopes. Many of these buildings are made of local stones. Between 1979 and the early 1980s, stone slabs from these areas were used in the construction of the Chengde Summer Resort and eight surrounding temples. In the spring of 2001, the Chengde County Government announced that Madigou would be designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. At present, there are not many footprints left in Madigou, and a large number of footprints have been moved and preserved on the ground of the summer resort.

This study led by Xing Lida is the most powerful official response to the discovery of a large number of Jurassic dinosaur footprints at the Chengde Summer Resort in Hebei Province. After detailed inspection, scientists found that the area preserved at least types of dinosaur footprints such as Deinonychus footprints, Apatosaurus footprints and Trichoderma dinosaur footprints.

Deinonychus footprints were produced at the Madingou footprint site, with an average length of 8.7 cm. The footprints have two toe impressions (toe III and toe IV) and a round heel. This shape shows that its footprints are Related to Deinonychus, it is included in the Velociraptor tracks. There are few deinonychus footprints found in the world. Currently, there are only the dromaeosaur footprints in Shandong, my country, the Velociraptor footprints in Sichuan, and the Hamandroeosaurus footprints in South Korea. Deinonychus dinosaurs include Velociraptor and Troodon. The most common thing about these dinosaurs is that they all have large, switchblade-like second toes, which are their "killer weapon" for hunting. ". Interestingly, the second toe did not come into contact with the ground when the dinosaur usually walked, so it left two-toed footprints. These footprints are collectively called deinonychus footprints.

The footprints of Leintosaurus and Trichoderma are distributed in various footprints in Chengde. There are at least 140 of these three-toed footprints, 130 of which are complete footprints.

Korean bird tracks are distributed in Madigou track points. This track site preserves at least four consecutive three-toed tracks. From a morphological point of view, these bird tracks are classified as Korean bird track types. Korean bird tracks were first discovered in Haman County, South Korea. They are a very typical Mesozoic bird track.

This expedition discovered a diverse Tuchengzi dinosaur fauna.

The fauna is obviously composed of sauropods (including theropods and sauropods), of which theropods and birds account for the majority. These rich footprint records in the Chengde area indicate that the dinosaur evolutionary record in North China is basically continuous, starting from the Yanliao Biota, to the Tuchengzi Footprint Fauna, and then to the Jehol Biota.

3. Dinosaur footprints were discovered on the stone road

On the morning of December 6), scientists from China, the United States and Australia announced that their research team had completed a study of dinosaur footprints in Chengde, Hebei. Surprisingly, most of the footprints are located on the grounds of Chengde Summer Resort, a world-famous Chinese royal garden. It is a rare case in the world that combines paleontological remains and fossils with human history.

These dinosaur footprints are large in number and well-preserved, and are of great value for studying the evolution of dinosaurs. They are also important for further exploring the behavioral habits and living environment of dinosaurs to restore the ancient environment of the area and climate changes during geological periods. significance.

Although the discovery of dinosaur footprints at Chengde Summer Resort has always attracted attention from all walks of life and has been reported by the media for many years, it has never been confirmed by official authorities.

Since 2007, the team of Xing Lida, associate professor of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), has successively conducted a large number of investigations in Madigou, Summer Resort, Xumi Fushou Temple and Putuo Zongcheng Temple (Little Potala Palace). The detailed study of dinosaur footprint fossils not only enriches the fossil record of dinosaur footprints in China, but also provides further strong evidence for the dinosaur activities in the latest Jurassic period in Chengde.

"Judging from the large number of invertebrate remains on the ground of the Summer Resort, the world 150 million years ago should have been a relatively calm shallow lake with flat sand. This was also a place where various small insects and Prerequisites for dinosaurs to leave footprints. ”

Why do dinosaur footprints appear on cultural buildings? It turns out that the origin of these footprint fossils, Madigou, produced paving stones. Xing Lida's team focused on the Madigou footprint site, which is about 800 meters above sea level. There are residential buildings on both the west and north slopes. Many of these buildings are made of local stones.

From 1979 to the early 1980s, stone slabs from these areas were used in the construction of the Chengde Summer Resort and eight surrounding temples. In the spring of 2001, the Chengde County Government announced that Madigou would be designated as a county-level cultural relic protection unit. At present, there are not many footprints left in Madigou, and a large number of footprints have been moved and preserved on the ground of the summer resort.

This research led by Xing Lida is the most powerful official response to the discovery of a large number of Jurassic dinosaur footprints at the Chengde Summer Resort in Hebei Province. After detailed inspection, scientists found that the area preserved at least types of dinosaur footprints such as Deinonychus footprints, Apatosaurus footprints and Trichoderma dinosaur footprints.

Deinonychus footprints were produced at the Madingou footprint site, with an average length of 8.7 cm. The footprints have two toe impressions (toe III and toe IV) and a round heel. This shape shows that its footprints are Related to Deinonychus, it is included in the Velociraptor tracks.

Few Deinonychus footprints have been found in the world. Currently, there are only the Dromaeosaurus footprints in Shandong, my country, the Velociraptor footprints in Sichuan, and the Hamandroeosaurus footprints in South Korea. Deinonychus dinosaurs include Velociraptor and Troodon. The most common thing about these dinosaurs is that they all have large, switchblade-like second toes, which are their "killer weapon" for hunting. ".

Interestingly, the second toe did not come into contact with the ground when the dinosaur usually walked, so it left two-toed footprints. These footprints are collectively called Deinonychus footprints.

The footprints of Leintosaurus and Trichoderma are distributed in various footprints in Chengde. There are at least 140 of these three-toed footprints, 130 of which are complete footprints. Among all the footprints, medium-sized footprints with a length of 10 cm to 20 cm are dominant. These footprints are divided into two types. One morphological type has a relatively short middle toe, which belongs to the Apatosaurus footprint among theropod dinosaur footprints; the other morphological type has a relatively long middle toe, which belongs to the footprints of Apatosaurus. These footprints belong to small and medium-sized carnivorous theropod dinosaurs that walked on two legs. Because the sediments are relatively soft and moist, the foot pads are not very clear. The claw marks at the ends are obvious. The functional toes are the second, third, and fourth toes, and only the poles are. Individual footprints leave hallux marks.

Korean bird tracks are distributed in Madigou track points. This track site preserves at least four consecutive three-toed tracks. From a morphological point of view, these bird tracks are classified as Korean bird track types. Korean bird tracks were first discovered in Haman County, South Korea. They are a very typical Mesozoic bird track. The largest of these birds is only 70 centimeters long and weighs more than 400 grams, so it is also called a small wading bird. Their unique characteristic is that they inhabit various wetlands most of the time, mainly feeding on molluscs and arthropods, and most species have migratory habits.

The Chengde Mountain Resort footprint site also produced some oval-shaped traces, which are similar in shape to the posterior footprints of sauropods, such as the most famous sauropod footprints in the Cretaceous: the Brontosaurus footprints. However, due to poor preservation and no whereabouts, it cannot be completely confirmed yet.

This expedition discovered a diverse Tuchengzi dinosaur fauna. The fauna is obviously composed of sauropods (including theropods and sauropods), of which theropods and birds account for the majority.

These rich footprint records in the Chengde area indicate that the dinosaur evolutionary record in North China is basically continuous, starting from the Yanliao Biota, to the Tuchengzi Footprint Fauna, and then to the Jehol Biota.

It is reported that in the next step, the Chengde Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau and Xing Lida’s team will discuss the protection and utilization of dinosaur footprints, and use this work to promote the development and implementation of Chengde’s tourism industry and science popularization.