Chinese archeologists have excavated fossils of a herbivorous dinosaur which lived 180 million years ago at the slope of a 1,840-meter altitude mountain in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Started on June 2, the excavation is near Guanglong village of Chengjiang County, where a local villager found the fossil on May 14,

Chen Ailin, curator of Yunan Chengjiang animal fossil museum, said that from the already-unearthed fossils, scientists concluded that the dinosaur was more than 10 meters long, and 7 to 8 tons in weight when it was alive.

The dinosaur had short forelegs and rather long hind ones, with slim neck, very small head and a 5-meter long tail, all of which show that it had lived in a swamp area rich with water grass, and transferred to mountain slope after geological vicissitudes.

Chen said that his team will complete the excavation within ten days, for part of the fossils have already rotted due to air exposure.

Within the 5,000-square-meter area the dinosaur fossil excavation place, at least three other dinosaur fossils were still underground, said Chen, stressing that his team has already accelerated their "salvage excavation" activities, for the herbivore fossils are more easy to be broken.

(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2005)