China’s dinosaur research ready to go global in first Central Asia expeditions

Leading Chinese scientist hopes project will be the ‘beginning of our international expeditions’ after decades of playing catch-up

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Chinese dinosaur researcher Xu Xing gathers fossils at a field site. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:00am, 9 Oct 2024Updated: 11:07am, 9 Oct 2024

China’s dinosaur scientists have spent much of the past century catching up with their international peers, but now they plan to break new ground in global research with the country’s first expeditions in Central Asia, according to a leading researcher.

“I have witnessed China’s dinosaur research rise from its low ebb to the vibrant state it is in now. We are ready to go global,” said Xu Xing, director of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing.

The institute plans to conduct joint scientific expeditions in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. It will be China’s first time leading an international palaeontology expedition in the Gobi Desert or Central Asia.

The institute is at the forefront of research in palaeontology and palaeoanthropology and is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“We already have some preliminary projects involving a few scholars going to Kyrgyzstan, mainly related to palaeoanthropology. We are testing how we can better expand the scope of the expedition and coordinate with other countries,” Xu said.

Mongolia is known as the “land of the dinosaurs” and is an important site for fossils from the Cretaceous period, between 144 million and 65 million years ago. It has yielded several famous dinosaur fossil discoveries.

The American Museum of Natural History organised five Central Asian expeditions from 1922 to 1930, mainly focusing on the area covering Mongolia and China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.