The Remains Of A Large Dinosaur From The Cretaceous Period Were Discovered On Port Island, Marking The First Time Dinosaur Fossils Have Been Found In Hong Kong
For the first time ever, dinosaur fossils have been found in Hong Kong. They were discovered within red sedimentary rocks on Port Island, also known as Chek Chau, which means “red island.”
The island is tiny and uninhabited. It is located northeast of Hong Kong. The fossil discovery was made in Hong Kong’s UNESCO Global Geopark.
“The discovery is of great significance and provides new evidence for research on paleoecology in Hong Kong,” said Bernadette Linn, the Secretary for Development of Hong Kong.
After an initial analysis, the paleontologists identified the fossils as the remains of a large dinosaur from the Cretaceous period, which occurred about 145 million to 66 million years ago.
Experts believe that the bones were buried underneath sand and gravel. A flood caused them to resurface, but they were reburied after water levels went down. Currently, it is unclear what species it belonged to.
China, along with Argentina, Canada, and the United States, ranks among the primary geographical regions for discovering and studying dinosaur fossils. Hong Kong is also an important center for paleontological research.
However, it is rare for remains to be preserved there because the region has ever-changing weather patterns, making the environmental conditions unsuitable for fossilization.
“Hong Kong is famous for being a built-up landscape, but half of it is a country park. In the countryside areas, most of what you see are dinosaur-era rocks, but its volcanic rocks—and they are bad places to find fossils because fossils just melt,” said Michael Pittman, a dinosaur paleobiologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“But Port Island is one of the islands that has dinosaur-age rocks of the right type and right environment.”
Philip – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
According to Pittman, the only way to find dinosaur fossils in the area is if some of them are peeking out from beneath the surface. If the researchers had arrived any later, the remains may have eroded fully.
The Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department in Hong Kong alerted authorities earlier this year that dinosaur fossils were possibly on Port Island.
When specialists from mainland China arrived on the island, they confirmed that dinosaur bones were present. The bones were fragmented and in a fragile state.
Until now, the only “dinosaur-era things” Hong Kong had identified were plants and fish. The nearby region of southern China is known for discoveries of dinosaur eggs rather than bones. More than 30,000 fossils of dinosaur eggs have been unearthed.
Port Island and the wider park area will be closed to visitors indefinitely as paleontologists conduct further research, investigations, and excavations with the hopes of making more discoveries.
A temporary workshop will be erected by the end of the year so that the public will be able to observe the researchers at work from a distance. The dinosaur fossils will be on public display at Hong Kong’s Heritage Discovery Center.
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