Australian.Geographic_2014_01-02

OU T BAC K

Destination dinosaur

China is dinosaur central right now, with more new species found

in a typical year here than have ever been discovered in Australia.

 T

HE DISCOVERY of the fi rst

feathered dinosaur in 1996 and

the tidal fl ow of feathered spe-

cies that has followed, put China on the

map as the world’s most exciting place

for dinosaur fi nds. The best places to

see fossils that proved the link between

dinosaurs and birds are the Beijing

Museum of Natural History and the

Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature

in Pingyi County. The Tianyu museum

has more complete dinosaur fossils than

any other, and was recently recognised

by Guinness World Records as the

world’s biggest dinosaur museum.

Fascinating Chinese dinosaur fi nds,

however, go way beyond feathered

species, and there are huge and fantastic

museums to explore in Yunnan and

Sichuan, too (see page 98).

There are a number of reasons why

China has such an abundance and

TR AVEL & DESTINATIONS, YOUR SOCIETY, YOUR AG

DESTINATION HIGHLIGHT: CHINA PAL AEONTOLOGY

108

SUMMER NATS

The Canberra festival that is the beating

heart of the modifi ed-car scene.

129

FROM THE FIELD

Go behind the scenes on assignment

with our photographers and writers.

130

FORGED BY FIR E

Looking back at a long-gone

Sydney glassworks.

Flights of fancy.

The discovery

of feathered

species – such

as four-winged

fl yer Anchiornis

huxleyi – rewrote

what we thought

we knew about

dinosaurs.

Getting there: Qantas, China Eastern and China

Southern fly daily from Sydney and Melbourne to Beijing

and Shanghai. From here internal flights can be taken to

Kunming (Yunnan), Chengdu (Sichuan) and elsewhere.

January–February 2014 97

5 OF THE BEST

diversity of excellent fossils, but it’s

partly due to tectonic activity here dur-

ing the height of the dinosaurs’ rule in

the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous.

This activity formed mountain

ranges, volcanoes, and basins with

lakes that all contributed to a plethora

of sediments perfect for preserving

fossils. This, combined with the fact

that until recently China hadn’t been

well explored for fossils, means there

has been plenty to discover in recent

decades. In contrast, Australia is low

and fl at, with few mountains and

river valleys that might expose fossils.

There’s also little tectonic activity and

turnover of rocks, so those on the sur-

face are ancient and heavily weathered.

FOSSIL R EGIONS

IN CHINA

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / JULIUS CSOTONYI; EGGS: JOHN PICKRELL

1 INNER

MONGOLIA

Major expeditions

from the American

Museum of Natural

History first struck out

into the Gobi Desert in

the 1920s, discovering species such

as Velociraptor and Protoceratops, and the

first nests of dinosaur eggs.

2 LIAONING

Remarkably preserved fossils from

here include feathers and insect

wings. Following the 1996 discovery

of fuzzy Sinosauropteryx, more than

40 feathered dinosaurs have been

unearthed here, showing a seamless

chain of evolution to modern birds.

3 SHANDONG

The site of duck-billed dinosaurs,

eggs and nests, and also home to

the Shangdong Tianyu Museum of

Nature, which has more than 1000

near complete dinosaur specimens.

4 SICHUAN

Has rich fossil sites for the Middle

Jurassic, including hundreds of near

complete dinosaurs and sauropods

with unusual bony tail clubs.

5 YUNNAN

Site of the first known

complete Chinese

dinosaur fossil in

1938, Yunnan has

since yielded more

than 100 great

specimens of species

such as Dilophosaurus.