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August 17, 2017

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Maotai has a new claim to fame ...

Source: Xinhua | 00:01 UTC+8 August 17, 2017 | Print Edition

More than 200 fossilized dinosaur footprints have been discovered in Maotai Township, the town famous for Kweichow Moutai alcohol.

It is believed to be the largest cluster of Sauropod footprints found in China. Sauropods were a group of huge, plant-eating, four-footed dinosaurs with long necks and tails dating from the early Jurassic period.

“The tracks were discovered by accident,” said Xing Lida, an expert at the China University of Geosciences.

In the summer of 2013, workers in Maotai Township in southwest China’s Guizhou Province found marks which looked like footprints on the surface of a huge rock when building a workshop.

This summer, when they saw media reports of dinosaur footprint fossils found elsewhere, the workers contacted researchers and a team of paleontologists came to the site.

Xing said the footprints were left by Sauropods more than 170 million to 180 million years ago.

Several clusters of Sauropod footprint fossils had been found previously in China, though some contained few fossils and others had been severely eroded by wind. The new discovery was well preserved.

“It can help with research on biological migration, behavior and evolution of these ancient creatures in the early Jurassic period,” said Xing.

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