Erlian: Hometown of the Dinosaurs

(chinaculture.org)

Updated: 2014-01-08

Erlian area is one of the first places in Asia where dinosaur fossils and dinosaur eggs were found.

The so-called "Hometown of the Dinosaurs" is located in Erlianyanchi area 9 kilometers from the downtown area of Erlianhot City. Erlian area is one of the first places in Asia where dinosaur fossils and dinosaur eggs were found. As early as 70 million years ago, the area was a dinosaur's paradise, with many lakes, a humid climate and luxuriant jungles.

Located in the Xilingol grassland, Erlianhot City is the only railway port that leads to Mongolia, making it the most convenient hub between Asia and Europe.

Starting the 1890s, paleontologists and geologists from Russia, the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Japan, Germany, Mongolia and China conducted seven investigations and excavations at the site of the course of a century, finding more than l0 kinds of Euhelopodinae, Alectrosaurus olseni, Cope, Archaeornithomimus asiatiicus, Ankylosaurus and Ceratopsia fossil and unearthing a large number of comparably complete fossilized dinosaur skeletons. The first dinosaur eggs to be found in China were excavated here.