Jurassic Ape Fossil Geological Park

　　    The Jurassic Ape lived 45 million years ago during the Middle Eocene epoch, predating similar finds in North Africa by 10 million years. The discovery of Jurassic Ape fossils originated from quarrying operations in the mid-20th century. At that time, locals often used fossils found in yellow clay within rock crevices to stop bleeding and treat injuries, unaware that these exposed fossil deposits held revolutionary remains.

　　    By 1985, paleoanthropologist Lin Yipu had found some ancient mammal fossils in the rubble piles of a quarry on Jellyfish Mountain in Shanghuang Town, Liyang County (now Liyang City). After returning to Beijing, he provided these fossils to Qi Tao, an expert on Paleogene mammals at his institute. Qi Tao identified some teeth as similar to those of the ancient musk deer found in Inner Mongolia, concluding that the animal they belonged to lived during the Early Tertiary period (between 65 million and 24 million years ago). Qi Tao’s research caught the attention of American colleagues. Starting in 1992, renowned paleo-vertebrate paleontologist Mary Dawson from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, along with paleoprimatologist Christopher Beard, and a Chinese team including Qi Tao, Wang Banyue, Li Chuanqui, and Guo Jianwei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, formed a joint research group. They conducted further field investigations in the Shanghuang area and surrounding regions, carrying out in-depth studies on the primate-rich Shanghuang fauna and related animal groups. Subsequent work uncovered at least four species of higher primates, one of which was named the Jurassic Ape, while the other three required further excavation and study due to insufficient material at the time.

　　    The dedicated and painstaking scientific exploration by Chinese and foreign scientists also left behind many interesting anecdotes. For example, the story of the American expert’s “wedding ring.” During a fossil excavation in 1992, Christopher Beard accidentally dropped his wedding ring, a gift from his wife, into the crevice mud and couldn’t find it after searching repeatedly. The American expert shook his head, spread his hands helplessly and with self-deprecating humor, and said: “Wow！ The ‘Uncle Sam’ in Jellyfish Mountain must be spiritually active—maybe the Jurassic Ape is playing hide-and-seek with me, joking around and taking my wedding ring. Well, okay, let it be a souvenir, a testament to the friendship between Chinese and American scientists, and also a humble offering to our ancient ancestors!” This golden bond of the overseas expert and his wife thus remains hidden within the Jurassic Ape community of Jellyfish Mountain.

　　    The Jurassic Ape fossils date back to the Middle Eocene epoch, 45 million years ago, nearly 10 million years earlier than higher primates found in Fayum. The term “Ape” here means “the dawn of the suborder Simiiformes.”

　　    In 1994, Professor Qi Tao, along with Christopher Beard and Mary Dawson from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, published their findings in the article “A New Primate Fauna from Middle Eocene Fissure-Fillings in South China,” which appeared in the prestigious British journal Nature, causing a sensation worldwide. The higher primates unearthed in Shanghuang, including the Jurassic Ape, and the associated Shanghuang fauna fossils comprised 63 species of mammals, all living 45 million years ago during the Middle Eocene. Before this major discovery, higher primates had only been found in Egypt and Algeria, leading the academic community to believe that all higher primates, including humans, originated in North Africa 36 million years ago. The Jurassic Ape of Shanghuang predates its North African counterparts by 8 to 10 million years. Therefore, the Jurassic Ape is the earliest known higher primate in the world and the common ancestor of all higher primates, including humans. The birthplace of primates is not in North Africa, but in Liyang, China—in Shanghuang, China.

　　    The discovery of the Jurassic Ape fossils in Shanghuang attracted great attention from experts both in China and abroad. Professor Jia Lanpo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the excavators of Peking Man at Zhoukoudian, Beijing, remarked: “The discovery of the Shanghuang fauna, especially the ancestors of higher primates, is as significant as the discovery of Peking Man. It is another extremely important paleontological find in China in the 20th century.”

　　    In 1997, to enhance tourism development around Tianmu Lake, the Liyang Municipal Government constructed the “Jurassic Ape Museum” within the Tianmu Lake scenic area, attracting countless domestic and international visitors. Today, the Jurassic Ape Fossil Geological Park on Jellyfish Mountain in Shanghuang has been designated as a Jiangsu Provincial-level cultural heritage site. Construction is being accelerated, with parts of the exhibition hall, suspension bridges, and sculptures already completed. Supporting projects such as sound, light, and electrical effects are also in the planning and initiation stages.

　　    Liyang City has built a north-south “Jurassic Ape Avenue” that leads directly to Changdang Lake Scenic Area and connects the Jellyfish Mountain Jurassic Ape Fossil Geological Park with the Changdang Lake National Wetland Park in Liyang, Jiangsu. This creates an integrated tourism circle combining landscape, classic sites, and food experiences.