He may not be a movie star, or a noted director, but the prestigious American movie director Steven Spielberg called him for advice when filming the movie "Jurassic Park."
Dong Zhiming, 65, dubbed as the "Dinosaur King of China," was asked by the legendary American director to name the six dinosaurs in the blockbuster film.
"I named one of them the 'Star Dinosaur,' because it was not only the star of dinosaurs but also a genuine star in the film," he said. "Through the movie a lot more people know more about dinosaur families and have fallen in love with the gigantic ancient reptiles."
The outstanding Chinese researcher's own love of the extinct reptile has taken him to every continent except Antarctica during the past 40 years, with his unremitting and tireless quest for dinosaur traces currently leading him back to China to join a team of scientists from all over the world.
Gathering in the Heilongjiang Valley in northernmost China, scientists from the United States, Russia, Japan, Germany and a number of other countries are investigating the dividing line between the Cretaceous and Tertiary Periods, or the K/T Boundary, widely regarded as the time a catastrophe depopulated the earth some 65 million years ago.
The Cretaceous period marked the end of the Mesozoic era during which dinosaurs ruled the planet, while the Tertiary period was the beginning of the Cenozoic era when humans evolved.
Dong is convinced that studying dinosaur fossils is valuable for understanding the movements of land masses and will help explain the sudden depopulation.
"I love what I'm doing and there's no other career I would rather devote my life to," Dong said.
Currently, China boasts more than 20 scientists engaged in dinosaur research, about one-fourth of the world's total. Of them, Dong stands out for having granted names to 35 breeds of dinosaurs, the most in the world.
"For me, naming a dinosaur is just like naming my baby, a very joyous and exciting thing," he said.
Various dinosaur fossils, including eggs, skeletons and feces have been unearthed in China, providing a golden opportunity for Chinese experts to solve the riddle puzzling global scientific circles.
Dong said he has contributed only two things to the field: participating in the excavation of dinosaurs
Zigong city in southwestern Sichuan province in 1977 and joining the Sino-Canadian dinosaur scientific expedition team in 1986.
"After the first dinosaur fossil was excavated in the city of Zigong, my gut reaction was that there must be more buried underground, so I ask for continued excavation," Dong said.
As a result, more than 100 dinosaur skeletons have been dug up during a period of approximately 10 years between 1979 and 1987, which not only surprised the world but also made the
Zigong Dinosaur Museum one of the largest in the world.
In 1986, Dong and his expedition team started off from northern China's Inner Mongolia Region, traveling extensively across the ancient Silk Road and eventually reaching the North Pole.
Having made a systematic study of the dinosaur fossils on the way, Dong reached the Arctic, becoming the first to raise the Chinese national flag there.
So far, Dong has written eight books about dinosaurs. One of them, after being published in Japan, has made him the second most beloved and popular person by Japanese youth, a latest random survey said.
As for his next step, Dong said, "I wish to write more books on popular science to enlighten more young people, encouraging them to pursue dinosaur research."
