Recently, the Bashanosaurus primitivus fossil, the oldest stegosaurus fossil in Asia, was discovered in Yunyang County, Chongqing. Chongqing is a veritable city of dinosaurs, known by experts in the field as "a city built on dinosaurs' backs." As we celebrate World Earth Day on April 22, the contributions of a great bunch of people dedicated to making dinosaur fossils "talk" should be praised.
In 2017, a group of world-class Jurassic dinosaur fossils was discovered in Pu'an Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing. Since then, a team of researchers from the 208 Institute of Geological Relics Protection under Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Minerals Exploration has been studying how to make these fossils "talk" every day.
The Dinosaur Fossil Wall of the Lower Shaximiao Formation at the Dinosaur Fauna in Yunyang County, Chongqing. (Photo/ cqnews.net)
Jiang Lingmin, a millennial from a family with a long connection with "fossils," is a fossil restorer. As a child, he had learned about fossils from his father and grandfather. Now, he uses what he learned in his work.
Jiang Lingmin is restoring the fossil. (Photo/ cqnews.net)
Jiang Lingmin's ancestors knew very well where there were fossils. His grandfather Jiang Dalun helped Chinese archaeologists find fossils with "knowledge handed down in the family from generation to generation." Jiang Lingmin's great-grandfather was also keen on discovering fossils. At the quarry owned by Jiang Lingmin's family, fossils were discovered, and his father, Jiang Yuanshun, closed the quarry at once and decided to protect the fossils.
Jiang Lingmin is restoring the fossil. (Photo/ cqnews.net)
How to identify and protect fossils was something Jiang Lingmin learned as a child. Four years ago, he was employed by the Fossil Restoration Center of the No. 208 Geological Team as a professional fossil restorer. Now he takes charge of restoring tens of thousands of fossil materials in the warehouse with his colleagues.
Before scientific research, restorers need to carefully process the fossils, removing the rocks to expose the fossils fully. It is a great test of eyesight and handwork. Dai Hui, the senior engineer of the No.208 Geological Team, often tells Jiang Lingmin that if a fossil is over-restored, its integrity will be hurt. As a result, the research on its attributes will be restricted. "It is better to leave a fossil under-restored than to have it over-restored!" It has become a pet phrase of Dai Hui.
To show a complete image of a dinosaur to help people establish a more intuitive understanding, experts of the No.208 Geological Team also need to restore the missing parts of a dinosaur's fossils based on research and use silica gel to mold every piece of fossil.
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the No.208 Geological Team, four new dinosaur genera and species have been discovered in Yunyang County's Dinosaur Fauna since 2017. But we still need to know that much remains to be done when it comes to discovering dinosaur fossils, and it takes patience and time to make these dinosaur fossils "talk."