Treasure of the Grasslands (Record of Major Archaeological Discoveries in Inner Mongolia)

Author: Liu Zhaohuo / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: In early winter of 1983, a middle-aged man with a ruddy complexion arrived at the Cultural Relics Protection and Management Department of the Inner Mongolia Museum, panting and speaking excitedly in a thick, somewhat rough Mandarin mixed with Mongolian: "I saw the backbone (nirugunyesu) of a giant dragon lying on the hillside, stretching for hundreds of meters!" After careful inquiry, it was learned that he was a herdsman from Sainqalin Right Banner of Xilingol League, who discovered a large area of fossils while grazing near the Qagan Nur Salt Mine. The fossils were reddish-brown and enormous—far larger than anything he had ever seen before. The local elders told him, "These are dragon bones. Such huge bones must belong to the bones of the true dragon king, but I can't say which emperor's." To identify which emperor's dragon bones these were and to ensure they were collected by the state, he came all the way here. After hearing his description, a professional told him, "The bones you mentioned are those of ancient animals, not the bones of dragons from ancient mythology. The dragons revered by ancient people were actually a composite of various animals, and such creatures never existed in the natural world. The so-called backbone should be the bones of a dinosaur."
Due to the winter season, no excavation work could be carried out. Only professional staff were sent to the site for exploration and to cover the exposed fossil bones. In 1985, after approval from the higher authorities, the Inner Mongolia Museum dispatched professional survey and excavation teams to the dinosaur fossil site at the Qagan Nur Salt Mine area, where they began the (tense yet orderly) survey, measurement, and excavation work. The dinosaur fossil site is located in the southern part of the mine area. Due to multiple natural movements, the fossils were scattered and could be found over several kilometers. The main excavation area covered approximately 400 square meters. The dinosaur fossils were buried in Early Cretaceous sandy mudstone layers from 120 million years ago. Due to mineral fillings, they appeared reddish-brown and were extremely hard. Although the bones were fragmented and missing, their fine structures remained clearly visible. The main components included: occipital bone, alveolar bone, teeth, cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae, caudal vertebrae, and relatively complete scapulae, humeri, ilia, ischia, pubes, femora, and a large number of ribs. The discovery of such a large, concentrated, and relatively complete set of bones was unprecedented in the history of dinosaur fossil excavations in Inner Mongolia.
After thorough research and identification by paleontologists, it was determined that this was a previously unknown giant dinosaur fossil, belonging to the sauropod family and the new genus and species Qaganornis. It was named Qaganornis and lived during the Early Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic Era.
In 1987, the Qaganornis was successfully restored and mounted. It measured 26 meters in length, 6 meters in height at the back, and 3.30 meters in chest width. When its head was raised, it could reach a height of 12 meters, equivalent to the height of four floors. Its estimated weight in life was around 60 tons. In terms of its large bones, the scapulae were 2.40 meters tall and 1.10 meters wide, the humeri were 1.50 meters tall with a maximum diameter of 0.57 meters, the femora were 1.80 meters tall with a maximum diameter of 0.60 meters, and the (iliac, ischial, and pubic bones) were 2.15 meters tall and 2.21 meters long.
This rare dinosaur fossil skeleton is the largest known in Asia to date. The Qaganornis fossil skeleton, along with the co-discovered Stegosaurus bones, not only fills the gap in records for this genus and species in North China and Inner Mongolia but has also become a treasured artifact of the museum. It serves as an invaluable reference for studying the systematic evolution, distribution range, adaptive characteristics, individual development, comparative anatomy, geological dating, uncovering the mysteries of Earth's changes, and reconstructing ancient geography, climate, and ecological environments. (The author is an Associate Researcher at the Inner Mongolia Museum)
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