People work at a dinosaur fossil excavation site in Ningdong Town of Lingwu City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Aug. 25, 2006. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery >>>

    Twenty-eight teeth lay in order on the ground. Xu noted that as kull might be underneath.

    Experts have also found a 1.1-meter-tall backbone, the biggest ever excavated in Asia.

    Professor Xu, who has named 15 new dinosaur species, believes that the dinosaur is a sub-species of diplodocus, mainly found in the southern hemisphere in places like Tanzania and Argentina. Other diplodocus fossils have been found in North America.

    Discovery of the species in Asia could support the Continental Drift Theory, according to which the African, American and Asian continents used to be connected, Xu said.

    The fossils could also help experts make out the geological change of northwest China, as Xu noticed some bones had been washed away in this arid area. He believed that the spot might be a delta millions of years ago.

    Sauropod used to be the biggest dinosaur on land in the Jurassic period. They could grow up to 40 meters long and over 100tons heavy.

    More fossils could be found at the spot, said experts.

    Questions are raised over death of the mammoth creature. "It is rare to find so many dinosaurs, with varying sizes, dead together," said Mo Jinyou, professor with the Guangxi Natural Museum who helped with the excavation in Lingwu. Mo guessed that death of the dinosaurs could be caused by some "unnatural reasons".

    The fossils will be preserved on the spot, where a museum shall be built, according to Wang Jun, vice director with the Publicity Department of Lingwu.

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