Sirindhorn Museum | Phu kum khao Dinosaur Museum

Sirindhorn Museum @ Phu kum khao Dinosaur Museum

Siamotyrannus isanensis

Geology of Phu Kum Khao

 Phu Kum Khao, a small hill, consists of the rocks deposited during Mesozoic Era, Sao Khua Formation (130 milloon years) and Phu Phan Formation (120 million years). Phu Kum Khao is a part of Phu Phan mountain range which is folded Mesozoic sedimentary strata. The hill and its vicinity are anticlinal folded strata and align northwest-southeast with 2 narrow and dipping down into the ground similar to an overturned boat. The consequent stream erosion worn down the higher part leaving what are today Phu Sing and Phu Thok in the west, Phu Kum Khao and Phu Por in the middle and many other small hills

Dinosaur Discovery at Phu Kum Khao

Phu Kum Khao, a small hill in Kalasin Province is an important site for dinosaur study in Thailand because the hill is the excavation site of numerous dinosaur fossils. A nearly complete huge dinosaur fossil has also been discovered here. The first dinosaur fossil discovery was in 1978 during which Phrakru Vichitra Sahaskhun, the abbot of a Buddhist monastery, Wat Sakawan, found 3 pieces of pieces of sauropod fore-leg bones. He later constructed a road around the hill. On September 4,1994 more dinosaur bones were again found in the gully beside the road. Later on, the exploration team from The Department of Mineral Resources spent more than a year to discover more than 630 pieces of dinosaur bones.

Paleozoic : The Era of Ancient Life Evolution

About 542 million years ago, the explosion of life evolution took place, from a few simple forms to many new kinds of organism; from soft-bodied to hard shelled animals. Ancient huge fishes, more than 5 m in length, swam through immense expanse of coral reefs in the tropical seas.

Some kinds of life evolved to live on land. The barren land was now enriched with fertile forest, Insects, amphibians and reptiles. At the end of this era, the utmost creatures

became extinct in a mysterious tragedy.