Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark, Yunnan

Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark is a World Dinosaur Valley built according to the national AAAAA tourist area standard. It was built in Kunming tourism circle on April 18, 2008. There are more than 60 highly complete dinosaur skeleton fossils on display in the park, which are arranged neatly. There are world-class dinosaur fossil burial sites in the park.

Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark, Yunnan

Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark, located in Lufeng County, Central Yunnan Province, was approved as the third batch of national geoparks by the Ministry of land and resources in March 2004. The main geological remains are paleontological fossils, which are famous at home and abroad for dinosaurs and Lama ape fossils. There are middle Jurassic Lufeng Dragon (sauroposaurus) fauna fossils, late Miocene Lufeng ape fauna fossils, as well as structural traces, geological disaster traces and deposit traces. It shows the geological process, biological evolution and human evolution history since Mesozoic.

Historical evolution

Since 1938, more than 190 dinosaur fossils and different numbers of Rama ape skull fossils and other paleontological fossils have been excavated in Lufeng. They are known as "hometown of dinosaurs", "warehouse of fossils", "birthplace of Asian Human" and "natural museum" by the academic circles.

In 1995, the dinosaur fossil resources excavated in laochangqing, Chuanjie township are rich and unique. According to the speculation of Chinese and foreign experts, there are more than 400 dinosaur fossils within the area of 10000 square meters. All of them will be uncovered and will become a world shaking dinosaur burial cemetery. Dinosaur Valley has been rated as one of the 23 scenic spots with great potential in Yunnan by Chinese and foreign experts. The dinosaur fossils as the main body of paleontological tourism resources are rich in burial, various in variety and unique in style. It plays an irreplaceable role in the national tourism resources. It is a world natural heritage with strong scientific value, popular science value, cultural value and tourism value.

In January 2004, it was listed as a national geopark. In April, it was listed as one of the "six major tourism industry bases" and "eight major tourism engineering construction projects" in Yunnan Province. It was also listed as the leading project of the key development of cultural tourism industry in Chuxiong Prefecture.

On October 2, 2005, the unveiling ceremony was held in Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark, Yunnan Province. The unveiling of Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark will have a great and far-reaching impact on further promoting the management of Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark, promoting the development of characteristic tourism and the protection of geological relics in Yunnan Province

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In 2008, it was rated as AAAA tourist area and provincial popular science base by the state, and successfully passed the ISO quality / environmental management system certification.

Dinosaur Valley covers an area of 1 square kilometer, with an investment of 500 million yuan in the first phase of the core scenic area, which will be completed and opened in April 2008. From April 2008 to August 2009, the park has received a total of 1 million domestic and foreign tourists, achieved 62 million tourism revenue, and achieved both economic and social benefits.

physical geography

Lufeng Dinosaur National Geopark is located in Lufeng County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, 102 km away from the provincial capital Kunming, with a total area of about 260 square kilometers. The main geological heritage protection area is about 170 square kilometers, which is of paleontological heritage type. Lufeng is located in the central Yunnan Plateau Basin, with an altitude of 1600 meters, belonging to the subtropical plateau monsoon climate. 190 million years ago, it was one of the birthplaces of dinosaurs, the world's largest animals.

At that time, the climate was warm and humid, the lakes and marshes were dense, the rivers were crisscross, the vegetation was abundant, and many dinosaurs lived here.

Resource conditions

Lufeng, Yunnan Province, was famous for its dinosaur fossils in the 1930s. According to statistics, since the discovery of the first dinosaur fossil in 1938, more than 110 dinosaur fossils have been unearthed in Lufeng, including Lugou dinosaur of Yin's family, Xugu dinosaur of China, Triassic Chinese Dinosaur, Lufeng dinosaur of Xu's family, giant Lufeng dinosaur, Yunnan dinosaur of Huang's family, Yunnan dinosaur of jushuo, Jinshan dinosaur of xinwa, Ankylosaurus of China, Middle Yunnan dinosaur of Lufeng, and limb dinosaur of Aoshi, which are divided into 34 species.

Lufeng, known as the "hometown of dinosaurs", has the largest number of dinosaur fossils, the most complete individuals and the richest species in China and even the world. In particular, dinosaur fossils of early, middle and late Jurassic were found in laochangguan area of Lufeng County, which is unique in the world and can be called a wonder of the world.

In May 1995, a farmer in Chuanjie township of Lufeng County discovered dinosaur fossils in laochangjing. The laochangqing fossil site was fully excavated in the County Museum. Stripping away the surface rocks, we found that there were four dinosaurs arranged close to each other in the pit, and there were four small tortoises beside the dinosaurs. In the upper and lower soil layers of dinosaurs and tortoises, we found lots of aquatic fauna fossils. At the same time, it was found that the heads of the four dinosaurs were facing the East, which was unprecedented in the history of dinosaur excavation.

The discovery of four dinosaurs not only fills the gap that no middle Jurassic dinosaur fossils have been found in China, but also is the only place in the world where dinosaurs of two geological ages have been found on the same fault.

Since 1996, a lot of outcrop fossils have been found around the four dinosaurs. The excavation area has expanded to 200 square meters, and a cemetery group of Lufeng dinosaurs has been found

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Characteristic landscape

Wutai Mountain in Lufeng

Wutai Mountain, located in the north of Lufeng County, is a scenic spot under development. The forest in the mountain is green, the stream is clear, and the natural scenery is fresh and pleasant.

Wutai Mountain Scenic Area, with a total area of 9000 mu, is a natural animal and botanical garden. There are more than 700 kinds of shrub and arbor plants in 67 families, mainly including mazzui, Yunnan pine, Keteleeria, Myrica rubra, olive, etc. All kinds of plants grow alternately. In the jungle, many wild animals freely reproduce and grow in the embrace of nature. Among these animals, the most rare are clouded leopard, pangolin, python, white bellied Caragana, etc.

Mount Wutai, as its name suggests, is like a platform, with forest on the platform and scenery in Taichung. However, it is surrounded by precipitous cliffs. Walking between the cliffs, although there is a thrilling shock from time to time, but after all, there is no danger. You can appreciate the strange peaks and rocks in the cliffs. There are many scenic spots in Wutai Mountain Scenic Area, many of which have scenery inside and outside. These scenic spots include Qingshui River, balayakou waterfall, jialisi reservoir, Chaoyang cave, Shishan mountain, xianrenji, jinkuangtang, guoditang, Hulutang, huasongpo, etc.

Lufengosaurus

65 million years ago, a huge animal on the earth died out. Anatomist Owen named this animal dinosaur after his long-term study of fossils. In 1995, Luo Jiayou, a young farmer in Chuanjie Township, Lufeng County, discovered dinosaur fossils on a red hill. Experts discovered eight dinosaur fossils, and a large number of dinosaur fossils may still exist. This discovery set off an international dinosaur fever in Lufeng since Bian meinian discovered "Lufeng dragon of Xu's" in 1938.

Lufeng dinosaurs are the oldest and most primitive species living in the early Mesozoic era. The Lufeng sauroposaurus fauna, represented by dinosaurs, is one of the most abundant and complete animal groups related to fossil vertebrates in China. Lufeng basin is rich in dinosaur fossils. Among the dinosaurs unearthed, there are sauroposaurus, dracosaurus and ornithosaurus, accounting for 33 species in 25 genera. It is an important area to study the occurrence, development and decline of dinosaur families. In the past half century, Lufeng dinosaurs have attracted many Chinese and foreign scholars who are devoted to the study of paleontology, which has far-reaching historical significance for the research and popularization of paleontology.

Fossil of Lama ape

The site is located in shihuiba village, 9km northeast of Lufeng County. Lufeng ape fossils were found in the Cun lignite seam, and Xiwa ape fossils and a large number of mammal fossils were also found in the same stratum. The age of survival is the Middle Pliocene eight million years ago. On April 9, 1980, the world's first Rama ape skull fossil was discovered, which represents the evolution from ape to human. Therefore, the Lama ape is also known as the ape type ancestor of human beings. Its discovery fills an important gap between the Lama ape in Kaiyuan 15 million years ago and the Yuanmou Man about 1.7 million years ago, which is of great academic value to the study of the origin of human beings. In January 1988, it was announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Lama ape

Rama ape is the earliest ancestor of human beings. Rama ape was first discovered by American scholar Lewis in 1932 in the strata of the siwak mountains in India. Some fossils between 14 million and 8 million years ago were found. It is pointed out that Rama ape is a relatively advanced ape and the ancestor of early human. It is named "Rama ape" after the name of Rama, the Indian God. Since then, a number of Rama ape fossils have been found in China, Pakistan, Turkey, Kenya, India, Hungary, Greece, Athens and other countries, but only in jaw bones and teeth. In May 1975, an ancient ape tooth fossil was discovered in a small coal mine on the hillside of shimibamiao, north of Lufeng County, China, which attracted the attention of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Several investigations were organized successively, and three Rama and Xiwa ancient ape skulls were unearthed

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