The construction of a dinosaur park will soon begin in east China's Shandong Province in a bid to preserve a large number of rare dinosaur footprints dating back to the Cretaceous period.

The park, covering some 60 sq km in Junan County of Yimeng Mountain Area, will exhibit the intact remains of dinosaur footprints, the physiognomy of volcano lava, fossilized insects, and traces of rain, water waves and splashes of mud made by passing dinosaurs.

The footprints, found two years ago in a 700 by 100 meter quarry, belong to two categories of Cretaceous dinosaurs. One is of the shape of beast feet and the other is of the shape of bird claws, said Zhao Xijin, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

During the Cretaceous period, there was a huge lake in the region, home to a large number of herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs, said Zhao, who specializes in the research of ancient vertebrates and palaeoanthropology.

It is rare to discover flocks of intact dinosaur footprints in the stratum. The park will not only restore the traces of dinosaurs' activities to visitors, but will offer valuable materials for the research of Cretaceous dinosaurs, the expert said.

"A geological park is of great importance in the protection of the rare dinosaur footprints, which require very special conditions to be well preserved," said Zhao.

The park, involving some 5 million yuan (about US$602,400), is the first of its kind in Shandong, which has been the site of various dinosaur fossil discoveries. In the 1960s, the tallest fossil in the world of a duckbill dinosaur was excavated in Zhucheng City, east of Shandong.

Some scientists are still researching in the area, expecting to find other fossils and eggs in the region.

The local government said it still has financial problems in completing all the investigation and construction work, and they have asked for support from the senior government departments.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2005)