CRI听力:Paleontologists call for urgent protection on Weng'an biota

Fossils found at Weng'an in Guizhou Province are regarded as the oldest ones to be found in the country, if not the world.
 

Recently, a group of paleontologists gathered at the site to call for more protection of animal fossils that could provide clues to the origin of life on Earth.

For more on this, CRI's Huang Shan reports.

As some of the earliest animal fossils discovered so far, the Weng'an site can be dated back to about 610 million years ago.

During the Qing Ming holiday, giant excavators dug up some fossils, which were then transported to a phosphate factory to make fertilizers

Top scholars from China, the UK and the US have arrived in Weng'an, to urge a protection of the site.

A researcher with the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhu Maoyan, elaborates on the importance of the Weng'an fossils.

"Weng'an biota is viewed as the only evidence of well-preserved three-dimensional embryo fossils both in the field of geology and in the world."

He further explains that the discovery of the fossils has led to Weng'an being dubbed as the "cradle of primitive life on Earth."

"Vernanimalcula guizhouena is the earliest complex animal with bilateral symmetry like human beings. One of its ancestors was discovered here. The fossil of Eocyathispongia qiania is three-dimensional. So far it has been generally recognized as one of the earliest animal fossils in the world."

However, buried deep underground in a layer rich with phosphorus, the Weng'an fossils are currently located in a mining area of a huge chemical company.

Yang Qun, the director of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says rapid mining and exploitation are harmful to the site.

"The mining has progressed so fast that many geological fossil profiles are disappearing quickly. Hence we have to select some essential profiles for further protection."

Local authorities have been investigating and labeling the fossil profiles of the phosphate rocks in the area.

The company's operations in the area will be stopped, with plans for a mine park in the works.

Last month, research findings indicated that the fossils at Weng'an could be as old as 609 million years, with a margin of error of 5 million years either side.

For CRI, this is Huang Shan.