Zhucheng fossil site facts for kids

The Zhucheng fossil site is a very important place in Zhucheng, a city in the Shandong Province of China. Many scientists believe it holds one of the biggest collections of dinosaur fossils found in the 20th century.

Zhucheng has been a key spot for digging up dinosaur bones since 1960. For a long time, local people thought these bones had special powers to help with muscle aches.

Discovering Giant Dinosaurs

In the 1980s, the biggest ever fossil of a hadrosaur (a duck-billed dinosaur) was found here. You can see it on display in the local museum. Since 1960, scientists have collected over 50 metric tons (55 short tons) of fossils from this area.

Returning Lost Fossils

Sadly, some dinosaur bones were taken out of the city without permission. But in 2008, Australia returned hundreds of kilograms of Chinese dinosaur fossils. These included dinosaur fossil eggs. These fossils were found during a special operation in warehouses and cargo containers.

This group of fossilised dinosaurs is currently the largest ever discovered in the world... in terms of area.

What Scientists Found

Palaeontologists, who are scientists who study fossils, believe they have found one of the largest sites of dinosaur remains. This was from a huge digging area. The fossilized bones are from the Upper Cretaceous period. This was just before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, when dinosaurs died out.

The findings include parts of a 20 meter (66 ft) long hadrosaurid, which is a record size for this duck-billed dinosaur. They also found a fossilized skull of a large ceratopsian, which was a horned dinosaur. Bones belonging to club-tailed ankylosaurs were also discovered.

How Did So Many Dinosaurs Die Here?

Finding so many fossil bones in such a small area suggests that many dinosaurs died together very suddenly. Scientists think a volcanic eruption might have killed the dinosaurs. Then, a big flood could have carried their bodies to Zhucheng. At that time, Zhucheng might have been a wetland covered in grass.

Future Plans

The local government in Shandong is planning to build a special fossil park in the area. This will help protect the site and allow more people to learn about these amazing dinosaurs.