Media

Hong Kong’s first identified dinosaur-era vertebrate
HKU’s Department of Earth Sciences: the fish Paralycoptera lived in Lai Chi Chong more than 140 million years ago

26 Mar 2015

 

A Jurassic fish (about 147 million years old) collected from Lai Chi Chong in the collections of the Stephen Hui Geological Museum has been studied, representing the first dinosaur-era fish – as well as vertebrate – from Hong Kong to be identified.

The specimen was described and identified during an Earth Sciences Major final-year undergraduate research project by Mr. Tse Tze-kei, graduate of the Class of 2014, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, the University of Hong Kong (HKU), under the supervision of Dr. Michael Pittman, Research Assistant Professor and Head of the Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, HKU and in collaboration with Professor Chang Mee-mann, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project results will be published in the open-access peer-reviewed journal PeerJ in late March 2015, demonstrating international recognition of the outstanding ability of HKU undergraduate students in conducting scientific research.

HKU will host a press briefing with Mr. Tse and Dr. Pittman sharing the discovery and their project experiences.

Members of the media are cordially invited to cover the research findings. Details as below:
Date: March 31, 2015 (next Tuesday)
Time/Activity/Venue:
11:00am      Photo taking at the Stephen Hui Geological Museum,
                      G/F, James Lee Science Building, HKU (Map)
11:15am      Press briefing in the Department of Earth Sciences Meeting Room,
                      Room 314A, 3/F, James Lee Science Building, HKU Science Building

Spokepersons:
Mr. Tse Tze-kei, graduate of the Class of 2014, Department of Earth Sciences
Dr. Michael Pittman, Research Assistant Professor and Head of the Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Life and Planetary Evolution Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences

Media enquiries
HKU Communications & Public Affairs Office Ms Rhea Leung (Tel: 2857 8555 / 9022 7446/ Email: rhea.leung@hku.hk ) or HKU Faculty of Science Ms Cindy Chan (Tel: 3917 5286 / 6703 0212/ Email: cindycst@hku.hk)