Erlian Salt Garden is located in the junction connecting China and Mongolia, 12 kilometers from Erlianhaote City of Inner Mongolia. The region has well-developed terrain stratum of cretaceous, where plentiful fossils of reptiles were buried in sand and argillaceous sediment of rivers and lakes. With regional characteristics of Mongolia Plateau, these fossils take up special position in dinosaur research area.
Excavation of dinosaur fossils in Erlian Salt Garden started at the end of 19th century. After the establishment of PRC, many large-scale explorations in this region were conducted with plentiful acquisitions each time. Throughout the years, a great deal of well-preserved fossils of dinosaur skeletons and plentiful scattered fossil fragments have been discovered, among which the most famous fossils include:
1. Alectrosaurus
Giant flesh-eater, Alectrosaurus was a member of tyrannosaurus family. It is a pity that only some fossil fragments of the limb bones have been found.
2. Archaeornithomimus Asiatiicus
Archaeornithomimus Asiatiicus, similar to ostrich in physique, had small and light skull, with no tooth, well-proportioned body and slender hind limbs similar to bird leg. It ran at high speed. Generally, it had a body length of about 3.3 meters, a height of 1.8 meters and a weight of 100 kilograms.
3. Protoceratop
Small-sized primordial Protoceratops had a body length of about 2.2 meters and a height of 0.7 meters. They lead a kind of communal life, hiding themselves in caves dug by themselves.
4. Hadrosaurus
Large-sized Hadrosaurus Bactrosaurus had short heads without crests. The large ones could be 7.5 meters long and 3 meters high, and weighs nearly two tons… The smaller ones had a body length of 1.5 meters and a height of 0.7 meters. They have the habit of fostering offsprings in the nests.
Rich in classes, orders and species, these fossils provide important scientific evidences for the study of dinosaurs on aspects of its physique, origin and evolution.
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