China finds major dinosaur {fossil} site (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Steve Jackson
BBC News

Scientists in China say they believe a group of dinosaur fossils discovered in the east of the country could be the largest collection ever found.

The researchers, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, say they have unearthed 7600 dinosaur bones since March in Shandong province.

Most of the bones date back to the late Cretaceous period which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct.

The scientists hope the find will help to explain why the creatures died out.
***
About 3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit just a few hundred metres long and thousands of others have been unearthed at a number of sites nearby.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7806062.stm

[Hanse]

1. Is paleontology a bigger deal in China than in the U.S.?

All of the great stuff seems to come out of China. But we've got lots of great fossil beds here in the U.S (I'm thinking of John Day, for instance) and I'm sure there are a lot of discovers left to be uncovered. But paleontology isn't a science that gets a lot of attention from universities, AFAIK.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Paleontology is ultra low-budget science.

In one of Jack Horner's books he estimates the total budget for paleontology in the US and Canada at about $2M/yr (not sure what year that was, but a bit out of date). That would be an easy funding level to surpass. In China, I'm sure field labor is cheaper, too.

If I were a paleontologist, I think for each Linnaean name I assigned, I'd copyright the English equivalent and collect royalties. :)

Paleontology in China got started later than in the US and so the sites have not been worked over as thoroughly. Also, there was that big war and something called the Cultural Revolution -- not a lot of science got done during either one. :(

[Odin2005]

4. It has been since they started finding dinos with feathers a decade ago!

[Poll_Blind]

2. I love dinosaurs and all but I really wish they'd open the tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di.

THAT would be amazing beyond all words.

PB