2017-05-24 Wed

Imageries of birdlike dinosaurs have been created by a Beijing-based artist named Zhao Chuang for Chinese scientists who are researching on fossils that are found in the country. These images have been featured in scientific writings of international magazines and journals. The artist reveals that birds make up the largest proportion of vertebrates in the world and they have evolved from dinosaurs.

China Post released on two sheets of stamps called Chinese Dinosaurs on Friday based on these drawings. A four-winged feathered dinosaur named Microraptor from about 125 million years ago has been featured on one of these stamps. Fossils of this kind of dinosaur were discovered in 2000 in Liaoning province. A long-necked Mamenchisaurus is depicted on another stamp. Its fossils were unearthed in 1952 in southern Sichuan province.

The different kinds of 200 million-year-old dinosaurs in China from the early Jurassic to the late Cretaceous periods have been represented on these stamps. A dinosaur-themed merchandise might also be developed.

Zhao and writer Yang Yang are working on 4 children's picture books on dinosaurs. They founded a scientific art research institution, the Pecking Natural Science Organization in 2009. They are also trying to develop themed books, toys and other products.