China will join hands with Japan for an in-depth study of fossils of dinosaur footprints found in Yongjing County of northwest China's Gansu Province.
Yoichi Azuma, a noted dinosaur expert in Japan, signed a three- year agreement with the Paleobiology Research Center of the No. Three Geological and Mineral Resources Prospecting Institute during his investigation of the site.
More than 100 dinosaur footprints, claimed to be the largest amount spotted in the world so far, were excavated in Gansu last March. The biggest one is about 1.5 meters long and 1.2 meters wide. The footprints came from at least four different kinds of dinosaurs, and the traces of their tails and excrement can also be clearly identified.
Azuma said, "I have seen many dinosaur footprints in various parts of Asia. These are the most complete, comprehensive and well- preserved dinosaur footprints I have ever seen."
Research shows that the area where the footprints were found was once the shore of a lake.
( October 21, 2001)
