Within the Triassic marine strata widely exposed across an area of over 200 square kilometers centered on Xinpu, a wealth of fossils are buried, including marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, nothosaurs, thalattosaurs, and hupehsuchians, as well as crinoids, fish, conodonts, ammonites, bivalves, gastropods, nautiloids, and ancient plant fossils. Together, they form an extraordinarily rich and fascinating ancient marine ecosystem. The diversity, abundance, and exceptional preservation of these fossils are rare among contemporaneous strata worldwide, making them world-class in both scientific and aesthetic value. The dragon fossils have been studied by experts and, for the first time, named after localities such as “Chinese Dragon,” “Guanling Ichthyosaur,” “Wayao Dragon,” “Xinpu Ichthyosaur,” and “Guizhou Ichthyosaur.”
Around 233 million years ago, this area was a vast, very shallow sea. Due to crustal uplift and subsidence, it often emerged above water, resulting in a scarcity of marine life. By 230 million years ago, influenced by tectonic activity, the crust began to subside here, the seawater gradually deepened, and marine life started to flourish, forming the Zhuganpo Formation. As the sea became even deeper, the Wayao Formation began to deposit, and pelagic creatures such as ammonites and bivalves thrived, reaching their peak. Fish that fed on them also migrated here. With abundant food, vast seas, and calm waters, it became a paradise for marine reptiles to hunt and reproduce. At that time, the nearest land was about 100 kilometers to the north. Coastal plants were continuously carried here by ocean currents, where crinoids and some bivalves attached to them, drifting with the waves and reproducing until the plants could no longer bear the weight and sank to the seabed. The calm and sulfur-rich underwater environment made it nearly impossible for benthic organisms to survive, thus preserving the remains of marine life in excellent condition. Intense tectonic movements later rapidly filled the area with eroded material from mountain belts. Around 210 million years ago, the region uplifted to become land. After more than 200 million years of transformation, weathering, and erosion, today’s Guanling biota landscape eventually formed.
The paleontological fossils of Xinpu in Guanling hold extremely high academic status and scientific value. Professor Yan Gongzheng said, “The discovery of the Triassic marine reptile and crinoid fossil deposit in Guanling is extremely rare among related strata globally and is currently the richest and best-preserved fossil treasury of crinoids and aquatic animal fossils in the world, with significant scientific value and international importance. Research on newly identified genera and species may fill gaps in the classification of aquatic reptiles and crinoid fossils.” Professor Wang Yanggan stated, “The Late Triassic fossil group in the Huangtang area of Xinpu Township, Guanling Autonomous County, is world-class and holds great significance for the study of Late Triassic paleontology, paleoecology, paleoceanography, paleogeography, taphonomy, and stratigraphy.” China's core geological journal *Geology and Geochemistry* published the paper *Preliminary Study on Early Late Triassic Marine Reptiles from Guanling, Guizhou*, which first announced to the scientific community the discovery of 2 new families, 6 new genera, and 9 new species of marine fossil organisms in Xinpu Township, Guanling Autonomous County. These fossils are unique to the region, highly diverse, and unparalleled in the world. When Dr. Tan from the University of Wisconsin, an expert on the Triassic system, reviewed the paper, he praised it, saying, “This is an astonishing discovery with great scientific value for the classification, evolution, paleoecology, and paleotaphonomy of marine reptiles.”
The discovery of Late Triassic marine reptile fossils in Guanling attracted attention from the global scientific community. Institutions such as the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Guizhou Geological Survey Team, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, and the Yichang Stratigraphic and Paleontological Research Center of the China Geological Survey successively conducted field investigations and research in Guanling. The Yichang Stratigraphic and Paleontological Research Center of the China Geological Survey and the Guizhou Geological Survey Institute conducted comprehensive and systematic studies on the Xinpu fossil burial site. CCTV has repeatedly reported on this major discovery and its research findings. In April 2003, the authoritative journal *Geological Bulletin of China*, sponsored by the China Geological Survey, dedicated the entire Volume 22, Issue 4 to the *Special Issue on the Research of the Guanling Biota in Guizhou*. Experts and professors such as Wang Xiaofeng, Chen Xiaohong, Chen Lide, and Wang Chuanshang wrote in the preface: “The Guanling Biota can be regarded as a unique fossil repository or deposit in the world. Its fossils are preserved more perfectly, more diverse, and more numerous than those of Germany’s Solnhofen Limestone. Comprehensive research on this rare biota not only provides abundant material for innovating theories on the classification, evolution, paleoecology, and paleobiogeographic zoning of marine reptiles, crinoids, and cartilaginous fishes, but also plays a significant role in addressing major related issues, establishing boundary stratotypes for the Ladinian and Carnian stages in China and even globally, developing theories on unconventional biological preservation and taphonomic environments, and reconstructing the ‘Triassic Park.’”
In 2006, the “Guanling Fossil Group National Geopark in Guizhou” was completed and officially opened to the public.
The Guanling Fossil Group National Geopark in Guizhou serves not only as a high-level scientific research base but also as a public science education site. Its unique and marvelous landscape also makes it a scenic area of great tourism value. Visiting the geopark allows you to gain knowledge while enjoying breathtaking sights.
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