Chongqing - Recently, the newly released documentary Prehistoric Planet and film Jurassic World: Dominion have considerably raised people's enthusiasm about dinosaurs. However, not many people realize that the real Jurassic Park existed in Chongqing long ago. Quite an astonishing amount of well-preserved dinosaur fossils with valuable for scientific research have been found here, garnering Chongqing the reputation of "the city on the back of dinosaurs."

Fantastic dinosaurs in Chongqing

Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis

Can you imagine an animal as long as a city bus? Well, that's how big a regular Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis could get. Their necks distinguish them from their relatives: they have the longest neck for the body size of any dinosaur known.

Yangchuanosaurus magnus

Here comes our smart Asian warrior: Yangchuanosaurus magnus. There is much evidence that it was a clever predator, not to mention that its mere huge size was already a threat to herbivore dinosaurs.

Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis

Do you know what dinosaur the Tyrannosaurus rex would have been afraid of? It's our Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis! It was likely the top predator in China at that time and preyed on other dinosaurs such as Mamenchisaurus mentioned above. 

Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis

The Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis holotype was one of the smallest stegosaurs with a length of fewer than four meters, even though it was apparently an adult, judging by the ossification of the sacrum.

Sanxiasaurus modaoxiensis

Had enough of those giants? There is a "mini" one: Sanxiasaurus modaoxiensis. It is the oldest known neornithischian in Asia. If you travel back to the Jurassic, you're likely to find this "little one" in the bushes, but watch out, it was a fast mover!

Omeisaurus puxiani

Does this incredibly long neck remind you of Mamenchisaurus? Yes, they are relatives and possible contemporary. Yangchuanosaurus mentioned before, would have been a serious threat to smaller Omeisaurus, ‬and still dangerous enough to worry larger individuals.

Bashanosaurus primitivus

Let's welcome the last one, nevertheless, the oldest stegosaurs: Bashanosaurus primitivus, which is the earliest record of Stegosauria in Asia and represents one of the earliest records of this dinosaur group from anywhere in the world.

Where to find them

Chongqing Natural History Museum

The Chongqing Natural History Museum transports you back into the prehistoric world of dinosaurs. There are more than 110,000 dinosaur skeletons, teeth, and eggs, and visitors can walk among life-size reconstructions. In addition, there is a dinosaur fossil restoration laboratory, through which visitors can watch the process of researchers repairing dinosaur fossils through the glass window.

Yongchuan Museum

Yongchuan Museum offers an insight into the earth's long and dynamic history. The museum houses skeletons and skulls of Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis, and visitors can navigate through millions of years of the earth's ancient past.

Yunyang in-situ dinosaur fossil wall

Imagine a 150-meter-long wall containing nearly 5000 dinosaur fossils. This incredible miracle happened in Pu'an Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing City, where "the world's largest Jurassic in-situ single fossil wall" was discovered.

Dazu Youting Dinosaur Footprint

In Dazu, you may walk next to the footprints of at least three dinosaurs showing wonderfully wide spacing, while one of the rows shows a distinct turn.

Lotus Mountain Fortress Dinosaur Footprints

If you wanna have a full view of dinosaur footprints, then Qijiang is the place to be. The Lotus Mountain Fortress dinosaur tracks in Qijiang, the largest track group of Cretaceous dinosaurs in southwestern China, have been preserved well, including concave footprints, convex footprints, and multilayered footprints.

Chongqing was an inland basin during the Jurassic Period. The warm and humid climate makes a perfect environment for plant life. Therefore, Chongqing was the ideal location for dinosaurs to live, a real-life Jurassic Park.

Acknowledgments: The main dinosaur-related scientific information in this article was provided by the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and the 208 Institute of Geoheritage Protection and Research, Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Minerals Exploration&Development, for which we are grateful. Some additional information is from Wikipedia.