CHINA: Old fossils breathe new life into Science museum, Chinese dinosaurs unite in Hong Kong

Rare Chinese dinosaurs prepare to awe visitors to Hong Kong's Science Museum in a new exhibition opening on May 25. Hong Kong Science museum will play host to over 200 ancient dinosaur and animal skeletons in a new exhibition opening on May 25th. Some of these dinosaurs walked in China over 100 million years ago. Amongst the precious collection of fossils is the Jehol Biota unique to the province of Liaoning in northern China. Never before seen in Hong Kong, the fossils include the Jinfengopteryx elegans and Microraptor gui, precursors of modern birds, and the 9-metre-long Mammuthus sungari, one of the largest kinds of mammoths ever discovered. Assembling the old fossils is a delicate job. Curator Eddie Ng is confident that the sheer size of this exhibition, and its exhibits, will have an impact on visitors. "We will display the fossils of dinosaurs in this exhibition, the difference between this exhibition and previous ones is we have a larger exhibition this time. And we will have about 200 dinosaur fossils in the exhibition," said Eddie Ng, Assistant Curator at the museum. The exhibition includes a dinosaur skeleton found in the Gobi desert. During the early Cretaceous Period about 120 million years ago, the area was warm with lush vegetation around lakes and rivers. The 9-metre-tall Nuoerosaurus Chaganensis was meat-eating and is therefore a rare specimen in the exhibit. "Carnivorous dinosaurs were not very common, and we have this one to show to the public," said Eddie Ng. Prehistoric animals and plants flourished on this landscape until massive volcanic eruptions took place. Dinosaurs with feathers and ancients birds were among the victims of the prehistoric catastrophe. Without any warning and before they could take wing, the animals were buried alive in a layer of fine volcanic ash. The exhibition also includes skeletons of the feathered dinosaurs. This exotic dinosaur shot to fame when the first bones were discovered in Liaoning in the early nineties. Since then the exotic finds have commanded international attention and have become a focus of scientific research. Curators hope that the exhibition will shed new light on the mergence of new birds, mammals and flowering plants in China.

ITN Source | May 19, 2007

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