Dinosaur bone fossils found in Hong Kong for first time, in what expert calls ‘very lucky’ discovery
Fossils found on Port Island, and experts believe they are from Cretaceous period, about 145 million to 66 million years ago
Dinosaur bone fossils have been discovered in Hong Kong for the first time, on a remote island off the northern part of the city, and the remains will be put on public display from Friday, authorities have said.
The Development Bureau said on Wednesday the fossils were found on Port Island, while experts believed they were from the Cretaceous period, about 145 million to 66 million years ago.
“The discovery is of great significance and provides new evidence for research on palaeoecology in Hong Kong,” Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said.
According to authorities, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department told the Antiquities and Monuments Office in March that the sedimentary rock on the island contained suspected vertebrate fossils.
Mainland Chinese experts from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted a field investigation between June and August.
It was believed the bone fossils could be associated with larger types of dinosaurs, including sauropods and ornithischians, but further study was required to confirm the species.
“Experts speculate that the dinosaur may have been buried under sand and gravel after death, then washed to the surface by a large flood and subsequently reburied at the discovery site,” a bureau spokesman said.
“Due to the scattered distribution and fragmented weathering of the dinosaur bones found, the chances of the dinosaur dying and being buried in the same place after death are relatively low.”
