First dinosaur fossils to be found in HK to go on display tomorrow

 

The first dinosaur fossils found in HK will go on display at Kowloon Park

The first-ever dinosaur fossils to be discovered in Hong Kong is set to be displayed at the Heritage Discovery Centre in Kowloon Park from tomorrow, Friday.

Officials announced yesterday that the priceless fossils, believed to date back to the Cretaceous period, about 145 million to 66 million years ago, have been discovered on Port Island in the northeastern waters of Hong Kong.

A Hong Kong-based paletontologist said earlier today that the discovery of dinosaur fossils in the city is a “momentous” achievement, and could lead to more exciting finds in the region.

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In an interview published by RTHK, Michael Pittman from the School of Life Sciences at Chinese University  said, "The discovery of these bones is super exciting because we have rocks of the right age and the right environment but having looked for so many years, different people have not been able to find dinosaur bones, including myself.”

Pittman added that the bones appear to have come from some larger dinosaurs. “I've seen pictures of models that are of long-neck dinosaurs and the hadrosaur dinosaurs, so these are among the biggest,” he said.

He also called the find “very lucky” since Hong Kong is not an ideal place for fossil preservation, as it had a lot of volcanic activity in the past.

Hong Kong’s topography and landscape also made finding dinosaur bones around here challenging as there isn’t much area to look for fossils, and the rocks are quite hard and do not readily erode out fossils.

"When we look for fossils, we typically go to a place where you can easily access them, and we focus on places where there are lots and lots of fossils, so it's rich in fossils and makes it easier,” he said.

But, he added China is one of four main countries in the world for finding dinosaur fossils, along with the United States, Canada and Argentina.

A Chinese expert asked to study the fossils at Port Island 

The historic find was unveiled at the signing of a framework agreement on deepening exchanges and cooperation between Hong Kong’s Development Bureau and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthoropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

As early as March this year, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department relayed the information that the sedimentary rock on Port Island in the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark, might contain vertebrate fossils.

The government then commissioned experts from IVPP to come to Hong Kong and conduct field investigation, study fossils and recommend management plans and follow-up actions.

After doing a preliminary scientific analysis, the experts determined that the specimens were bone fossils of large aged dinosaur. Further tests confirmed that the fossils dated back to the Cretaceous period, which lasted up to 145 million years ago.

Further studies will be conducted to confirm the dinosaur species.

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