Located in Yunyang District, Shiyan City, Hubei Province, Hubei Qinglongshan Dinosaur Egg Site Museum is a natural museum that protects and displays dinosaur egg fossils on a large scale. The dinosaur egg fossil site covers an area of more than 7000 square meters, and 3204 dinosaur egg stones have been repaired, protected and displayed in situ. In addition to 77 dinosaur egg fossils in a nest, and dinosaur egg fossils with a unique beaded arrangement, in December 2023, there were also three dinosaur egg fossils that were rare in the world and were completely crystallized inside. The abundant dinosaur egg fossils here have important scientific significance in revealing the dinosaur egg production process and restoring the ancient environment.
In order to explore more information behind dinosaur egg fossils, in 2020, Hubei Qinglongshan National Nature Reserve of Dinosaur Egg Fossil Group, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Hubei Institute of Geological Sciences jointly set up a joint scientific research team composed of six fixed scientific researchers to carry out sectioning and histological observation on dinosaur egg fossil samples, The dinosaur egg fossils were repaired in situ and the sedimentary environment was studied. These researchers are vividly called "repairers" of dinosaur eggs.
"When dealing with these fossils thousands of years ago, I often feel that I am talking with history," said Zhao Bi, a team member and senior engineer of Hubei Institute of Geological Sciences. In order to retain as much fossil information as possible, the joint scientific research team chose to repair and protect the dinosaur egg fossils at the original site
In recent years, the team has successfully implemented a number of national and provincial natural science foundation projects around the scientific research of dinosaur eggs in Qinglong Mountain, and has made important achievements in determining the classification of dinosaur egg fossils in Qinglong Mountain area and proving the "symbiosis of dragon eggs" phenomenon in Qinglong Mountain area. At present, the team is conducting morphological and taxonomic research on the embryonic skeleton of dinosaur eggs in Qinglong Mountain, trying to determine the true identity of these dinosaur eggs by scientific means.
With the silent persistence and unremitting exploration of these "repairers" of dinosaur eggs, the mysterious veil covering the dinosaur eggs on Qinglong Mountain is slowly being lifted.
Photographed by Hu Jingwen, reporter of Xinhua News Agency
(Editor in charge: Shan Fang, Chang Xuemei)
