Million-year-old shell fossils
Million-year-old shell fossils
Million-year-old shell fossils
Million-year-old shell fossils
Address:
Huai Duea Vilage, Non Than subdistrict, Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand
Attraction Location
Million-year-old shell fossils Videos
Dinosaur Excavation Site and Paleontology Museum in Nong Bua Lamphu Thailand 1
A visit to a dinosaur excavation site in Nong Bua Lamphu Province in northern Thailand where 150 million year old bones are being dug out of the mountains,
There's also a museum where fossils can be seen close up...
150 Million years old shell fossils Museum thai.gr
150 Million years old shell fossils Museum.
THAILAND: TOURISTS FLOCK TO SEE DINOSAUR SKELETON
Thai/English
Tourists in Thailand are flocking to see a dinosaur skeleton identified last month by geologists.
The fossil of the tyrannosaurus is the oldest of its type ever found.
And not far away excavation is continuing at a site which is turning out to hold the remains of dozens of ancient creatures.
Under a hut in the Phu Wiang National Park - 450 kilometres northeast of Bangkok - lies the body of an animal which roamed the land about 130 million years ago.
Known for its beauty and isolation - the park is now becoming more famous for its fossils.
These fossilised tailbones were found in 1993 - but it was not until last month that experts confirmed that they belonged to a Tyrannosaur - a fierce carnivore.
The animal would have been over 6 metres (21 feet) long.
What has excited experts is the age of the bones - 20 million years older than any other Tyrannosaur fossil.
That suggests this area could have been where the species first evolved.
The new discovery has been given a title - Siamotyrannus Isanesis - after Siam - the old name for Thailand and Isan - the name of the surrounding region.
And the lure of the dinosaur is bringing up to a thousand tourists each day to this remote part of Thailand.
SOUNDBITE:
I think it is a good thing it is here in this provincial part of the country - so we can bring tourists to this place.
SUPER CAPTION: Dr Nara Vaeusorn, Tourist
The number of fossils that have been found in this region shows that dinosaurs once roamed this part of the earth in large numbers.
When the land here was being formed in the Mesozoic era these dinosaurs died and their bones were preserved under layers of rock.
Because the continents have moved over millions of years and old rock has been pushed to the surface - these fossils are now lying near the surface.
Two hours drive east of the national park - in the grounds of a Buddhist monastery near Kalasin - what is virtually a prehistoric graveyard has been uncovered.
It's only 20 metres by 11 metres - but it has yielded seven hundred bones and six separate animals - all plant eaters called Sauropods.
Tantalisingly the remains of yet more animals can be seen in the earth walls of the excavation pit.
Experts think this was once a river bed and that dinosaur corpses became stuck here as they floated downstream.
And meat eaters came here to feast on the bodies - leaving many of their teeth behind as evidence.
These are believed to have come from another Siamotyrannus.
This could be one of the most important dinosaur sites in the world.
SOUNDBITE:
From the bones we found, some of them are articulated so we can tell what it looked like - how long it is. From the shape of the bone we can go deep to the genus and species of the animal.
SUPER CAPTION: Varavudh Suteethorn, Senior Geologist, Department of Mineral Resources
But the bones could have laid undiscovered if it had not been for a little spiritual guidance.
The monastery's abbot says he found the bones after a parade of dinosaurs appeared to him in successive meditations.
SOUNDBITE: (Thai)
It is possible that the spirits of dinosaurs have been reincarnated. They have been dead for millions of years. They have completed their penance. Perhaps it is time for them to be born again.
SUPER CAPTION: Prakru Vichitsahasakul, Abbot of Monastery
The strength of such ideas has encouraged many Thais to believe the bones are magical.
Many visitors believe that the bones will bring them long life - so they try to touch them.
Some even try to steal the bones - to keep them for extra benefit - others just throw money into the fossil pit - hoping to earn merit for their next lives.
So the archaeologists have built a wire fence around the site - to keep out bone hunters and money snatchers.
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