An 80 million year old carnivorous dinosaur from Thailand identified

PHOTO: Thai PBS

A Thai PhD student, studying overseas, has identified some bones of a dinosaur wandering around the mountains of Khon Kaen 80 million years ago.

Fossilised bones, unearthed on a mountain in Khon Kaen nearly 30 years ago, have been identified as belonging to a previously unknown carnivorous dinosaur.

Thai PBS says the the bones were unearthed on Phuwiang Mountain in Phuwiang district in the northeastern province.

Sommai Taechaval, director-general of the Mineral Resources Department, says the dinosaur, from the Cretaceous period about 80 million years ago, was named Phuwiang Venator Yaemniyomi in honour of Mr. Sutham Yaemniyom, a retired official of the department who originally unearthed the fossilised bones.

The fossil was studied by Adul Samathi, a PhD student at Bonn University, Germany, who says he became interested after having seen the fossilised bones and was convinced that they belonged to a special dinosaur species. He suggested that the meat-eating dinosaur would have been about six metres long and its fossilised remains were found in the red sandstone layer.

A dinosaur expert at Maha Sarakham University, Dr. Suravech Sutheethorn, says the fossilised bones were found in 1993 at the 9B pit in Phuwiang national park, adding that fossils of several dinosaur species have been found in the Phuwiang district.

Sixteen dinosaur species are believed to have lived in what is Thailand today. Of these, nine were newly discovered species. They are Phuwiangosaurus Sirindhornae, Kinnareemimus Khonkaennsis, Siamotyrannus Isanensis, Siamosaurus Suteethorni, Isanosaurus Attavipachi and Psittacosaurus Sattayaraki.

If you’re up around Khon Kaen in the next few weeks, don’t worry, the dinosaurs all died out around 66 million years ago.

ORIGINAL STORY: Thai PBS