PALEONEWS: First Private Museum of Natural History Opens in China

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

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First Private Museum of Natural History Opens in China 

BEIJING (Jan. 13) XINHUA - The first private museum of natural history
opened in the city of Jinzhou in the northeast China's Liaoning Province
on the weekend. The museum was set up based on the proposal of Professor
Hou Lianhai, a noted paleoornithologist. 

Among the 300 rare fossils on display at the Jinzhou Wenya Museum, there
are a host of rare ancient plants and animals, including the well-known
Sinosauropteryx and Confuciusornis. These fossils were all discovered in
the western part of Liaoning Province. The finds have drawn worldwide
attention. 

All of the 300 rare fossils belong to the museum owner, Du Wenya. 

Among the exhibited objects, this specific Confuciusornis was named
after Du Wenya himself, who first discovered the fossil in 1998.
Afterward, he contacted Professor Hou Lianhai of the Institute of
Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, which is attached to the
Chinese Academy of Sciences. Hou studied the fossil for one year and
noted that it was a clue to and could be very helpful in discovering the
skull structure of archaeopteryx. 

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