Haenam Dinosaur Fossil Site 25th Anniversary Commemorative Academic Conference Held
[Haenam=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] Jeonnam Haenam-gun announced on the 8th that it will hold a commemorative academic conference to reflect on the value of the Uhahng-ri Dinosaur Fossil Site, which marks the 25th anniversary of its excavation, and to explore development plans.
The county will hold an academic conference on the 9th at the Haenam County Office main conference room under the theme "Retrospect and Prospects of the Excavation and Research of Haenam Dinosaur Fossil Site."
This year marks the 25th year since the comprehensive academic survey of the Uhahng-ri Dinosaur Fossil Site in Hwangsan-myeon, Haenam-gun was conducted. The announcement of the results of the comprehensive academic survey carried out in 1998 became a turning point that sparked explosive interest in dinosaurs in Korea.
The Haenam Dinosaur Fossil Site is well known as a place that consolidates Cretaceous period fossils where the world's largest pterosaur footprints and trackways, webbed bird footprints known as the ancestors of the oldest extant waterfowl, exquisitely preserved large dinosaur footprints, and arthropod traces can be easily found.
Starting with a basic academic survey of the dinosaur fossil site in Hwangsan-myeon in 1996, followed by an international academic symposium in 1997 and a comprehensive academic survey in 1998, the site began to be widely recognized.
Through academic surveys, the value of Uhahng-ri was recognized by academia, and it became the only case in Korea where the place names "Haenam-gun, Hwangsan-myeon, Uhahng-ri" were used as the scientific name of a fossil site.
The dinosaur museum built on-site in 2007 boasts the largest scale among domestic paleontology and dinosaur museums and holds over 500 exhibits, including 45 real dinosaur fossils such as the Allosaurus fossil, which was first publicly displayed in Asia.
This academic conference was prepared to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fossil site excavation, to revisit the value of the Haenam Uhahng-ri Dinosaur Fossil Site, and to explore future development directions. A large number of related experts, including Heo Min, director of the Korea Dinosaur Research Center who led the initial excavation of the Uhahng-ri Dinosaur Fossil Site, will participate to discuss the academic achievements and development prospects of the Uhahng-ri Dinosaur Fossil Site.
The conference includes a keynote lecture by Professor Heo Min and research presentations by Hwang Gu-geun (Chonnam National University), Jang Tae-su (Chonnam National University), Oh Chang-hwan (Chungbuk National University), and Jeong Jong-yoon (Chonnam National University). Active discussions will also be held with geology and paleontology veterans such as Lee Yong-il (Professor Emeritus, Seoul National University), Baek In-seong (Professor Emeritus, Pukyong National University), and Park Jeong-ung (teacher at Soongmoon High School).
Haenam-gun plans to deepen research on domestic dinosaur fossil sites by newly creating a dinosaur brand, renaming the existing Dinosaur Fossil Site Office to Dinosaur Museum during the organizational restructuring in the second half of 2022, and supporting annual academic seminars and academic events.
Myung Hyun-gwan, Haenam County Governor, said, "As this is a meaningful year marking the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the Haenam Dinosaur Fossil Site, we will take this opportunity to widely promote the Haenam Dinosaur Fossil Site beyond the region to the whole country and the world," adding, "I hope this will be an occasion for active cooperation among geology and paleontology experts."
Meanwhile, the Haenam Uhahng-ri Dinosaur Fossil Site is designated as Natural Monument No. 394 and has been recognized for its value as earth science material, being selected as National Important Science and Technology Data Natural History No. 2 by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
Haenam=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun alwatros@asiae.co.kr
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