KUNMING, (Xinhua) -- Fossils of dinosaurs have been discovered in 9 local sites in the province since the end of 2020, said the information office of the government of southwest China's Yunnan Province on Wednesday.

The bureau added that urgent excavation work for the fossils of the aforementioned dinosaurs will be conducted by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The fossils, which are located in Lufeng City, Wuding County, and Shuangbai County, Zhuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, respectively, were superficially buried, and the bone shapes could be easily identified, said Chen Jun, deputy director of the provincial natural resources department, adding that several fossils were exposed to the surface due to rains.

A preliminary survey showed that one group of dinosaur fossils in Shuangbai County dated to the middle and late Jurassic period, while the other fossils dated to the early Jurassic period.

More than 410 sets of dinosaur fossils have been excavated in Chuxiong Prefecture since 1938.