Junggar Basin, located in
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomus Region of China's western region, is the area buried
with the most abundant dinosaur fossils in the world. Most area of today's
Junggar Basin is covered by desert. As far back as 100 million years ago, with
vast lakes, flourish vegetation and moderate climate, this area was the paradise
for dinosaurs.
Seungaipterus
The best-known dinosaur fossil found in Junggar Basin is Junggar
Pterosaur (Seungaipterus), a variety of flying reptiles living in the
Cretaceous period of over 100 million years ago. The prominent feature of
pterosaur is its two wings evolved from forelimbs. The Junggar Pterosaur
discovered in Xinjiang had a body length of 0.9 meters. Its two wings were up to
2.5 meters in length when spreading. The first three fingers of the forelimbs
had degenerated while the fourth finger turned long and rough. The smooth
plicated patagium without claw connected the four fingers with body, forming
wings for flying. Therefore, the appearance of pterosaurs was more resemble to
bat rather than birds. Having wide sternum and hollow limb bones with the same
function of that of birds, it was good at flying with lightened weight. The
discovery of Junggar Pterosaur (Seungaipterus) has
corrected the preconception that pterosaurs only lived by the seaside, which
boasts great value for researches on reptiles.
Bellusaurus sui
Bellusaurus sui was a member of Sauropod dinosaurs with small and
light body conformation. Its neck was longer than body and forelimbs were longer
than hind limbs, which was somewhat similar to giraffes. With spoon-shaped
teeth, it could not chew with mouth and had no option but to cut down branches
and leaves of vegetation and then swallow up.
Tianchiasaurus nedegoapeferima
Tianchiasaurus
nedegoapeferima was excavated on the basin
margin. It had rigid bone carapace on the back, and long stings on the bone
carapace. It was small in body conformation, with a length of no more than 3
meters. There was a coccygeal vertebra in the shape of meteor hammer on the
tail. Once encountered with danger, it would play its unique skill of flapping
the "meteor hammer", to give a deadly blow to its natural enemy. Tianchiasaurus nedegoapeferima is a member of Ankylosaurida of Jurassic period
discovered in Asia for the first time, the name of which was based on the
suggestion of eminent America science fiction film director Steven, who bestowed
the specific name to the 6 famous stars who make performance in the film
"Jurassic Park". Its translated name in Chinese is "famous star" Tianchi
disonaur.
Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum
Mamenchisaurus
sinocanadorum was a member of Sauropod
dinosaurs discovered in the east of Junggar Basin by Chinese and Canadian
scientists, which was named to commemorate the successful cooperation between
scientists from the two countries. With some identical features of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis discovered in Sichuan Province, it was a member of the family of
Mamenchisaurus
hochuanensis. It is estimated that its
body length was up to 30 meters, which is merely inferior to the 34-meter-long
"Earthquake Dinosaur" in America. So it is reputed as the "Runner-up
Dinosaurian".
In addition, Tienshanosaurus chitaiensis
Young, Shanshanosaurus huoyanshanensis Dong, Monolophosaurus jiangi, and
Sinraptor dongi are all namable species of dinosaurs unearthed in Junggar Basin.
The discovery of these dinosaur fossils provides precious materials for research
of ancient animals.