4,300 dinosaur footprints found in North China

SHIJIAZHUANG -- More than 4,300 dinosaur footprints have been found in North China's Hebei province, according to local authorities.

The footprint fossils, covering an area of more than 9,000 square meters, were found in Xuanhua district in the city of Zhangjiakou. The rock layer in which they were located dates back around 150 million years.

The fossil group was spotted in April 2020 on a local hillside, where hard rocks were seen covered with dense dinosaur tracks, some in a circular shape and some in the shape of animal claws, said Sun Xiao, chief engineer with the Hebei provincial regional geographical survey institute.

The footprints belong to four dinosaur species, with one being a newly discovered species, added Sun.

Xing Lida, associate professor with the China University of Geosciences, said that the rock layer belongs to the era from the turn of the Jurassic to the Cretaceous period.

It can be inferred from the footprints that the herbivorous dinosaurs could reach a body length of more than 15 meters, and the carnivorous dinosaurs could reach a body length of four to five meters, Xing added.