Hong Kong dinosaur fossils found in 2013 but ‘priorities’ delayed identification: official

Commissioner for Heritage Ivanhoe Chang reveals fossils were found in geological study and left for over a decade due to ‘work priorities’

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A rock containing fossils is shown at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. The government announced the discovery of the fossils on Port Island on Wednesday. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 11:00pm, 24 Oct 2024Updated: 5:47pm, 25 Oct 2024

The dinosaur fossils discovered in Hong Kong were initially found in 2013, but authorities only sent them to experts for analysis 11 years later due to “work priorities”, the head of the heritage office has said.

The government announced the discovery of the fossils, believed to be from the Cretaceous period that began 145 million years ago, on Port Island on Wednesday.

The Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department informed the Antiquities and Monuments Office of the discovery in March of this year, prompting the government to seek help from mainland Chinese experts to assist with the analysis, and subsequently confirmed they were dinosaur remains.

Commissioner for Heritage Ivanhoe Chang Chi-ho revealed on Thursday the fossils were discovered in 2013 during a geological study and left for more than a decade due to “work priorities”.

“When [the conservation department] collaborated with the China University of Geosciences of Beijing to conduct a geological study, they did not plan to uncover any fossils, but they accidentally discovered that the rock may contain some suspected vertebrate fossils,” he said.

“They had this finding, but the study had already been completed, leaving them no time to further look into it.”