We're on the countdown to bringing a unique dinosaur exhibition to Nottingham in the summer of 2017.

Featuring fossils and specimens never before seen outside of Asia, the exhibition includes some of the best preserved dinosaur fossils from anywhere in the world, not just the bones, but also soft parts including skin and feathers. Many of the species are new to science, only discovered and named in the last 20 years, and some as recently as 2015. 

One of the highlights of the exhibition will be the Gigantoraptor, which at 4 metres high and 8 metres long is the largest feathered dinosaur ever found. The Gigantoraptor will be accompanied by numerous other dinosaur specimens, such as the four-winged flying Microraptor, a close relative of Velociraptor which has wing feathers on its arms and legs. 

Artist's impressions of the dinosaurs featured in the exhibition are credited to Zhao Chuang.

Visit to China

Representatives from Wollaton Hall and the University of Nottingham visited Beijing in March 2016 to make early plans for ‘Dinosaurs of China – Ground Shakers to Feathered Flyers’. 

Dr Adam Smith (Wollaton Hall) and  Dr Wang Qi (University of Nottingham) (pictured left) report...

"Our primary destination was the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), a hub for dinosaur research in China and home to the Paleozoological Museum of China (PMC). Here, we inspected the bird-like dinosaur fossils - exquisitely preserved with feathers - that will be journeying to Nottingham in 2017.

We also visited the IVPP’s off-site storage facility and workshop to the north of Beijing, where we encountered the spectacular mounted dinosaur skeletons that will be part of the exhibition…and the huge wooden crates they’ll be travelling in!

To gather stories for the exhibition we met the palaeontologists who described and named many of the dinosaurs in the exhibition. 

Professor Xu Xing (pictured below) is a world-renowned dinosaur expert who has studied many feathered dinosaurs. He told us how he discovered the mighty Gigantoraptor! 

We also met the director of the PMC, Professor Wang Yuan (Pictured below). His enthusiasm inspired some exciting ideas for the exhibition and we left Beijing assured that ‘Dinosaurs of China’ is going to be spectacular!"

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Meet the dinosaurs!

Gigantoraptor

Size: 8m long, 4m high

Diet: Uncertain - possibly an omnivore (eats meat and plants)

Named by: Xu, Tan, Wang, Zhao and Tan (2007) 

Place of discovery: Erlian basin, Inner Mongolia, China

Age: Late Cretaceous (Iren Dabasu Formation), ~80 million years ago (the exact age is uncertain, but older than 70 million years ago and younger than 86 million years ago)
Classification: Gigantoraptor belongs to the Oviraptorosauria, a group of two-legged dinosaurs with bird-like beaks and feathers. 

Description: Gigantoraptor is a large dinosaur with a relatively short tail, long neck, long arms and legs, and was covered with bird-like feathers. Gigantoraptor is the largest example of its kind and the largest dinosaur with bird-like feathers.

Reference: Xu, X.; Tan, Q.; Wang, J.; Zhao, X.; Tan, L. (2007). "A gigantic bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of China". Nature 447 (7146): 844–847.

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Microraptor

Size: The holotype (cast of fossil) is approximately 77 cm long

Diet: Carnivorous (meat eater)

Named by: The species Microraptor gui was named by Xing, Zhou, Wang, Kuang, Zhang, and Du. (2003). The genus Microraptor was named earlier in 2000 for the species Microraptor zhaoianus.

Place of discovery: Dapingfang, Chaoyang County, western Liaoning (30 km southwest of Chaoyang City), China.

Age: Early Cretaceous (Jiufotang Formation), 120 million years ago.

Classification: Microraptor belongs to the dromaeosaurid or ‘raptor’ family, so it is a close relative of Velociraptor and Linheraptor.

Description: Microraptor is a small feathered flying dinosaur with long flight feathers on its arms, legs and tail.

Reference: Xing, X., Zhou, Z., Wang, X., Kuang, X., Zhang, F., and Du, X. (2003). "Four-winged dinosaurs from China." Nature, 421: 335–340.

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Sinraptor

Size: 7.2 m long, 3m tall

Diet: Carnivorous

Named by: Currie and Zhao, 1994

Place of discovery: Junggar Basin, northwestern China.

Age: Late Jurassic (Oxfordian stage, Shishugou Formation), 160 million years ago.  

Classification: Sinraptor belongs to group of dinosaurs called the Allosauroidea, so it is closely related to the well-known North American Allosaurus. Despite its name, Sinraptor is not closely related to raptor-type dinosaurs such as Velociraptor.

Description: Sinraptor is a large two-legged super-predator with a 90 cm long skull full of sharp teeth. It has sharp curved claws on its fingers and toes for catching and killing prey, and a long tail to help it balance. At over 7 metres long it is one of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever discovered in China.

Reference: Currie, P.M and Zhao, X.-J. (1994). A new carnosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Jurassic of Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 30(10-11):2037-2081

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Stay in touch!

As well as this monthly newsletter, we'll be using the Wollaton Hall Facebook and Wollaton Hall Twitter accounts to update you on the exhibition. Wollaton's own George the Gorilla (pictured right) is also very interested in dinosaurs!

The hashtag for the exhibition is #Chinasaurs17 so everybody can get involved!

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Coming up!

News of how and when to get your tickets for the exhibition preview on Saturday 1 July 2017 is coming soon.

There will be tickets available for two sessions (10am-1.30pm and 1.30pm- 5pm). 

Watch this space!

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