A paleontologist studies the dinosaur footprints in Zhaojue county. (Photo/ West China Metropolis Daily)

A well-preserved dinosaur footprint. (Photo/ West China Metropolis Daily)

The world’s smallest dinosaur footprint. (Photo/ West China Metropolis Daily)

Experts from China, the U.S. and South Korea recently announced that a set of dinosaur footprints found in Zhaojue county of southwest China's Sichuan province have been confirmed as the world's smallest dinosaur footprints ever discovered. The footprint is called Minisauripus and is about 2 centimeters long.

In July 2014, Xing Lida, a doctoral student at the China University of Geosciences, together with dinosaur footprint experts from the U.S. and South Korea, investigated the footprints in Zhaojue county. 

In April 2016, the footprints were confirmed to be the world's smallest dinosaur footprints. They date back to the Cretaceous period. 

In recent years, a large number of dinosaur footprints have been found in Zhaojue county. Erbi Jiefang, Director of the Archaeology Institute of Zhaojue County, told a reporter from West China Metropolis Daily that over 100 new dinosaur footprints were found in a mine not long ago. However, mining work has greatly threatened the preservation of many of these footprints.