Chinese and foreign paleontologists announced on the 29th that they had found a huge dinosaur footprint in Ganzhou, Jiangxi. This is the first discovery of Tyrannosaurus footprints in China and even in Asia, which is of great significance for studying the distribution and evolution of dinosaur fauna in China at the end of Cretaceous.

This research was jointly completed by Xing Lida, associate professor of China Geo University, Niu Kecheng, executive director of Liang Ying World Stone Natural History Museum, and Martin Lockley, curator of the Footprint Museum of the University of Colorado. Related papers were published in the authoritative academic journal Science Bulletin.

Tyrannosaurus rex, also known as Tyrannosaurus rex, is a super-large carnivorous dinosaur, belonging to theropod. They lived in the last 3 million years of the late Cretaceous, about 68.5 million to 65.5 million years ago, and then disappeared in the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. Its fossils are mainly distributed in all parts of North America, while in Asia, it has its relatives-Tyrannosaurus Rex, winged animals and so on.

"Finding the footprints of Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of my dreams." Xing Lida said, "This kind of footprint is very rare. Most of the dinosaur footprints in China were found in the Jurassic and early Cretaceous, and the footprint records in the late Cretaceous were very rare, not to mention the Tyrannosaurus footprint at the top of the food chain. "

This specimen was first discovered by local people while building roads. "The paw print of this footprint is very sharp, and the metatarsal pad is very developed, indicating that the dinosaur's foot is very stable, and several toes, especially the second toe, are very developed. There is also a small everted bulge next to it, which is probably the trace of the big toe. All the evidence shows that this footprint is very similar to that of Tyrannosaurus rex found in the United States, and it is most likely left by Tyrannosaurus rex. " Xing Lida said.

Paleontologists infer from the footprint that the trace maker of Tyrannosaurus rex's footprint can reach 7.5 meters long. This body length is very similar to the Tyrannosaurus Qianzhoulong found in Ganzhou, about 7.5 meters to 9 meters. "The footprint is only 33 kilometers away from the discovery of the skeleton fossils of Qianzhoulong." Xing Lida stressed, "From the perspective of top predators, there may be only one predator in this area, and the Tyrannosaurus footprint discovered this time is most likely left by Qianzhoulong."