Do you have the impression of "dragons", are most of them ** film and television works or myths? In fact, China has long been discovering the "dragon", and it has a deep connection with scientific research and culture. At the Shanghai Museum of Natural History, a branch of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, we saw many unique "Chinese dragons".
Walking into the exhibition area of the long river of life in the museum, there are many exhibits related to "dragons". Among these behemoths, the rather small alligator is a bit out of place. As one of the smallest crocodiles in the world, the Chinese alligator appeared on the earth as early as 150 million years ago during the Mesozoic Era, so it is also known as a "living fossil". In the Neolithic Age, the Yangtze alligator was all over the Yangtze River and the Yellow River Basin, and when they came in the summer wind and rain, they often made a "rumbling" roar, which was very similar to the thunder, and because of its amphibious and mysterious whereabouts, the ancestors thought that they were the gods who could shake thunder and lightning, travel clouds and rain, and ride the water.
Huang Lingli, a docent at the Shanghai Museum of Natural History, said: "If you look for the oracle bone inscription, you will find it'Dragons'The original image of the word is very similar to the image of the Chinese alligator, and it can be said that the Yangtze crocodile is the first of our Chinese dragon character image.
When it comes to the real "Chinese dragon", we have to mention the bicrest dinosaur. It was found in Jinning, Yunnan Province, and lived in the early Jurassic period, about 1 year ago900 million years old, it is the earliest carnivorous dinosaur discovered in China. It walks on two legs and has a body length of 56 meters, with a huge skull, well-developed jaws, a mouth full of sharp teeth, and strong and powerful front and rear limbs, he was once a "rapid killer". "Its most distinctive feature is that it has two bony spinal crowns on the top of its head, hence the name Dinosaur. The function of the crown may be to open the abdominal cavity of the prey so that it can eat, or it may be to better display itself. Huang Lingli said.
Another exhibit is called the Chinese dragon bird, which is the first feathered dinosaur to be discovered. Scientists deduced from its serrated teeth and the remains of mammals such as lizards found in its abdomen that the Chinese dragon bird lived on carnivorous. In 2010, scientists revealed for the first time the true color of the Chinese dragon bird by comparing the melanosomes in fossil feathers with those in modern bird feathers — reddish-brown or maroon on its back and a white band on its tail. "We have found a large number of fossils of feathered dinosaurs and birds in the Rehe area, which has laid a very solid foundation of fossil evidence for the theory that birds originated from dinosaurs. Huang Lingli said.
In addition to these mammalian dragons, there are many species related to dragons in nature. For example, the dragon palace Weng Rong snail in front of you is a very ancient gastropod mollusk that appeared on Earth in the Cambrian period about 500 million years ago. Its unique shape resembles the gorgeous palace of the legendary Dragon King, so it is also called the Dragon Palace Shell.
Gentian is named because "the leaves are like nightshade, and the taste is bitter like gall". It is a plant that grows on the Tibetan Plateau and has good medicinal properties. There is also a "dancing fairy" in the genus Gentian - pseudo-aquatic gentian, because its flowers are like mimosas, which will shrink quickly after being touched by the outside world, so it is also known as the "mimosa" on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Text Photo: Qu Lichun.
Editor: Lu Lin.
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