Өвөр Монголын нутаг дэвсгэрт геологийн судалгаа хийж байсан эрдэмтэд 473 метрийн гүнээс үлэг гүрвэлийн ясны хэлтэрхий санамсаргүй байдлаар олсон байна.
Хятадын геологичид Ин-гэн-Эзинаки сав газрын Гүайзиху суурингийн ойролцоо зэсийн хүдрийн орд илрүүлэх зорилгоор өрөмдлөг хийж байхдаа энэхүү олдворыг олжээ. 208GPV01 гэж бүртгэсэн уг олдвор нь 115 сая жилийн тэртээх Цэрдийн галавын үед хамаарах бөгөөд Баян Говийн тогтоцын баруун хэсгээс олдсон анхны үлэг гүрвэлийн бүртгэл болж байна. Тус тогтоц нь өмнө нь зөвхөн зүүн хэсгээсээ олдвор өгч байсан тул энэхүү нээлт нь тухайн бүс нутгийн палеонтологийн ач холбогдлыг өргөтгөж байгаа юм.
Хятадын Геологийн их сургуулийн доктор Лида Шиний удирдсан судалгааны баг олдворыг шинжлэхдээ геометрийн морфометрийн аргачлалыг ашиглажээ. Олдвор нь ууцны хавирга, сүүлний нугалам болон шөрмөсний хэсгүүдээс бүрдэх бөгөөд судалгаагаар Psittacosaurus төрлийн үлэг гүрвэлтэй хэлбэр хэмжээний хувьд төстэй болохыг тогтоосон байна. Гэсэн хэдий ч үлдэгдэл нь бүрэн бус, хэлтэрхий байдалтай байгаа тул судлаачид уг олдворыг тодорхой төрөл зүйлд хамааруулахаас түдгэлзэж, одоогоор “тодорхойгүй орнитишиан” гэж ангилжээ.
“Earth History and Biodiversity” сэтгүүлд 2026 оны есдүгээр сарын 5-нд хэвлэгдсэн уг судалгаа нь палеонтологийн нээлт заавал зориудын малтлагаар эхэлдэггүй болохыг харууллаа. Уг олдвор нь Баян Говийн тогтоц дахь үлэг гүрвэлийн тархалтын хүрээг тэлж, тухайн үеийн экосистемийн судалгаанд шинэ мэдээлэл нэмэрлэж байна. Цаашид энэ бүс нутагт хийгдэх нэмэлт судалгаанууд олдворын нарийвчилсан шинж чанарыг тодруулах боломжтой юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A copper mineral survey in Inner Mongolia has yielded an unexpected prize, scientists found fragments of a dinosaur that lived roughly 115 million years ago, hauled up from a depth of 473 meters. The bones, pulled from a section of the Bayan Gobi Formation that had never before produced a dinosaur record, mark the first such find in the western part of the Yin’gen-Ejinaqi Basin.
The find is a reminder that paleontological discoveries don’t always begin with a deliberate dig. In this case, geologists searching for copper deposits near the settlement of Guaizihu stumbled onto something far older than any mineral vein. The specimen, now cataloged as 208GPV01, consists of a handful of bone fragments rather than a complete skeleton. Its scientific value lies less in its size than in its location.
That’s because the Bayan Gobi Formation, an Early Cretaceous continental rock unit, has long been a productive hunting ground for dinosaur remains, just not in this particular stretch of terrain. Nearly every previous find from the formation came from its eastern reaches.
An Accidental Discovery, 473 Meters Down
Near Guaizihu in the Yin’gen-Ejinaqi Basin, the 208GPV01 fossil was recovered from a drill core at a depth of 473 meters, or roughly 1,500 feet below the surface. It was not the object of the survey. The team of Chinese geologists conducting the work was there to assess copper mineral deposits, not to hunt fossils.
What they found consists mainly of proximal tail vertebrae, though according to Dr. Lida Xing of the China University of Geosciences and the Dinosaur Odyssey Science Museum, who led the research alongside colleagues, explained that:
“208GPV01 comprises a sacral rib, four caudal vertebral centra, six caudal neural arches, several transverse processes, and ossified tendons.”
Fossil Points to a Specimen, But Not Confirmed
Working with such limited material, the researchers turned to geometric morphometrics, comparing the proportions of the recovered vertebrae against a wide range of other ornithischian dinosaurs, the broad group of plant-eating, bird-hipped dinosaurs to which the specimen belongs.
The comparison showed that 208GPV01’s vertebral proportions most closely resemble those of Psittacosaurus, an early horned dinosaur genus that was widespread across Cretaceous East Asia. Still, the team stopped short of pinning the fossil to a specific genus or species. Given how fragmentary the remains are, they’ve classified it for now simply as an indeterminate ornithischian, a cautious label, but one that leaves room for future finds to sharpen the picture.
The Cretaceous Map Gets Bigger
The Bayan Gobi Formation is no stranger to notable dinosaur discoveries. It has previously yielded the hadrosauroid Penelopognathus weishampeli, the ceratopsian Psittacosaurus sibiricus, and the alvarezsauroid Bannykus wulatensis, a roster that speaks to the formation’s importance for understanding Early Cretaceous life in northern China.
As the study’s authors note, the formation’s fauna shares similarities with that of the nearly contemporaneous Western Liaoning, suggesting both may fall within the radiation range of the Jehol Biota, though some differences remain.
“208GPV01 is the first published dinosaur record from the Bayan Gobi Formation in the western Yin’gen-Ejinaqi Basin, thereby expanding the geographical range of dinosaur fossils in this horizon,”the authors said.
According to the study, published September 5, 2026 in the journal Earth History and Biodiversity, this specimen represents the first published dinosaur record from the Bayan Gobi Formation in the western part of the basin, extending, however incrementally, the known geographical footprint of dinosaur fossils within this important Cretaceous horizon.
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