厉害！广东初中生在工地发现恐龙遗迹，专家：科学价值很高

虽然恐龙在地球上生活了上亿年之久，但已于6500万年前全部灭绝。而如今能够看到的，只有一些恐龙化石和遗迹。

据媒体报道，日前，广州一名中学生偶然发现的恐龙遗迹，被中国地质大学（北京）的恐龙足迹研究团队认定为广东肇庆首个恐龙遗迹。

Chinese paleontologists on Tuesday announced the discovery of a batch of dinosaur footprints in south China's Guangdong province. The fossil footprints were accidentally found by a junior high school student near a construction site in Huaiji County, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong, in July 2021.

据悉，该恐龙遗迹早在去年7月份就被发现，发现者则是来自广州市的一名初三学生倪子杰。由于从小对化石有浓厚兴趣，在怀集县一处建筑工地边上发现几个疑似恐龙足迹的化石后，就马上联系了中国地质大学（北京）的专家。

图片来源：新京报

随后，邢立达课题组、地质与古生物专家张显球等专家学者来到该处，发现共7个兽脚类恐龙脚印，包括两个孤立足迹和一道行迹，其形态类似于副强壮足迹属。

A research team led by the China University of Geosciences subsequently came to Huaiji to study the exposed dinosaur footprints and their rock strata and recorded the situation through unmanned aerial vehicles and stereo scanning. They discovered a total of seven theropod footprints, including two isolated footprints and one well-preserved track, according to a study published in the journal Historical Biology.

图片来源：南方都市报

根据恐龙速度计算公式，专家估算出其行进速度约为2.57米每秒，这意味着造迹者是在小跑的状态下留下的脚印。另外两个孤立的足迹，被分别归为了实雷龙足迹类和跷脚龙足迹类。

Based on the theropod track, researchers then estimated the trackmaker's traveling speed would be 2.57 meters per second, indicating that the trackmaker was trotting at that time, said the study.

通过研究分析，专家将这些足迹暂时归入了“副强壮足迹-实雷龙-跷脚龙足迹”组合，而该兽脚类足迹组合曾出现于四川省和安徽省的白垩纪岩层。

恐龙足迹特写

专家表示，在广东省西北部、广西省东部和湖南省南部的三省交界地区，恐龙化石出现的很少。而怀集足迹点的化石记录作为该地区的唯一证据，有助于重建粤桂湘三省交界地区的白垩纪中期恐龙群，具有重要的科学价值。

As the first record of dinosaur tracks from the Cretaceous Zhagang Group of northwestern Guangdong, the discovery expanded the recorded distribution of Cretaceous dinosaurs in China. The Cretaceous period, which began 137 million years ago and ended 65 million years ago, was the last time dinosaurs ruled the planet. Fossils from that period offer significant evidence for studying their evolution, living conditions and extinction.

编辑：商桢

实习生：陈伊明

来源：新华网 腾讯网 南方都市报