Leading Hong Kong palaeontologist Michael Pittman was inundated with phone calls and media inquiries last month when the first dinosaur fossils were discovered in the city.
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The overwhelming response was in a stark contrast to the limited attention in the city he received over another groundbreaking finding, made public the day before the discovery was announced.
Pittman and another expert had reconstructed the locomotion of pre-avian dinosaurs based on their fossilised footprints, improving the understanding of the origin of flight in birds and their closest theropod relatives.
The research was published in an influential international journal, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“I am thrilled that the city has its own dinosaur fossils, something I … tried [to find] a few years ago,” Pittman said excitedly while playing with a dinosaur figure at his desk.
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The life science assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who suddenly became a household name last month, spoke surrounded by figurines and images of a wide diversity of dinosaur species. They fill every corner of his office at the university and included the dinosaur cartoon character from the movie Toy Story.
Half Scottish and half Chinese, Pittman arrived Hong Kong when he was just one and spent his childhood exploring the countryside. At a young age, he would hike with his family and pick up rocks he found interesting along country park trails.