Stunning fossils from Liaoning province have created a boom for Chinese palaeontologists and local farmers alike. Rex Dalton reports from the wild frontier where researchers do battle with the black market. The farmers of Songzhangzi, some 300 kilometres northeast of Beijing, had always ignored the rocky ridges that loom over their small village. Then they struck palaeontological gold. About three years ago, realizing that some people will pay good money for fossils, the villagers took out their picks and shovels and began burrowing into the strata.
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