Usually, we hear about paleontologists finding dinosaur tracks in barren and remote landscapes. This time was very different and surprising. Dinosaur footprints found in a restaurant in China.
In downtown Leshan, a city of about 1 million people in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, a resident named Ou Hongtao sees the unusual in the most unexpected places.
While out for a meal at the restaurant, this dinosaur fan noticed the giant footprints preserved in the restaurant's courtyard. As it turns out, this is the first evidence of a dinosaur population in the Leshan area.
Quoted from the Global Times, scientists have also confirmed that they came from the early Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago. While scientists know dinosaurs in the Sichuan area date back to the more recent Jurassic period, the discovery of the first dinosaurs in the city of Leshan itself provides important insight into what life was like during one of those dinosaur times.
Led by paleontologist and professor at China University of Geosciences Lida Xing, the fingerprints found at the Leshan restaurant were confirmed as sauropods.
With its long neck and tail, the most famous member of the sauropod family was most likely the brontosaurus, whose tracks were reportedly found in the Leshan restaurant. The ancient dinosaur in question may have been 8 meters long. In the early Cretaceous period, these sauropods were on the banks of rivers when they left their mark about 100 million years ago.
"From the fossilized footprints, this discovery is actually like an enigma, adding another piece of evidence for the Sichuan Cretaceous period and dinosaur diversity," said paleontologist Lida Xing.
In addition to 3D scanning technology, dinosaur fingerprints found in Leshan, China were linked to brontosaurus species through drone footage and other types of analysis.
Sichuan was in drought conditions during the period in which the dinosaurs lived, and they may have been drawn to the area in search of water.
After this important paleontological discovery became public knowledge, parts of the restaurant grounds are now fenced off and additional steps have been taken to preserve the fossil footprints for further study.
Paleontologist Xing said the trail was well protected because the restaurant owner liked the look of the original stonework like the unfinished building. Otherwise, this trail might have been covered when the restaurant was built,
"These footprints are well protected. When we went there, we found that they were very deep and quite clear, but no one until then had thought that they might belong to dinosaurs," Xing said.