Projects in Thailand
Unveiling the Ancient Forests from Siam to Modern Thailand
Fossil wood in Thailand
In Thailand, many large petrified trunks have been discovered in the northeast and the north. The oldest fossil wood in Thailand was part of a scale tree, Lepidodendron, dating back to the Carboniferous Period (320 million years ago). Other reports from the Palaeozoic are gymnosperm wood samples of the conifer Agathoxylon and cf. Gingkophytoxylon from Permian (280 - 250 million years ago). During the era of dinosaurs (the Mesozoic), giant gymnosperm trees with a diameter of at least 0.5 m and more than 6 meters long from these taxa Agathoxylon, Brachyoxylon, Protocedroxylon, and Shimakuroxylon dominated during the Jurassic to Cretaceous.
Later in the age of mammals, flowering plants from evergreen forests, dry dipterocarp, and mixed deciduous forests flourish the land. The most common paleoflora discovered from this age is from the family of legume trees (Fabaceae), including Pahudioxylon, Cynometroxylon, Koompassioxylon. The petrified forests in Tak and Khorat are internationally renowned and allow visitors to examine preserved and protected petrified wood at the excavation sites.
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References
Benyasuta, P. (2003). Petrified wood of Northeast Thailand and its implication on biodiversity and the ecosystem during the Cenozoic Era. Ph.D. Disseration, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand.
Boonchai, N. (2008). The study of the biodiversity and comparative anatomy of petrified wood in the area of the Northeastern Research Institute Of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources, Thailand (Master's thesis, 235 pp.). Suranaree University of Technology, Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima
Boonchai, N., Suteethorn, S., Sereeprasirt, W., Suriyonghanphong, C., Amiot, R., Cuny, G., Legrand, J., Thévenard, F., & Philippe, M. (2020). Xenoxylon, a boreal fossil wood in the Mesozoic redbeds of Southeast Asia: Potential for the stratigraphy of the Khorat group and the palinspatic reconstruction of Southeast Asia. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 189, 104153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2019.104153
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University (Thai version).
Mustoe, G.; Aranyanark, C.; Boonchai, N.; Jintasakul, P. A New Look at Cenozoic Fossil Wood from Thailand. Geosciences 2022, 12, 291. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences12080291
Rajabhat Institute Nakhon Ratchasima. (1995). Report of the study on surveying, designing, and making model of petrified wood park and museum,
Mueang district, Nakhon Ratchasima province. Rajabhat Institute Nakhon Ratchasima.
Thailand Institute of Science and Technology Research (TISIR). (2001). Project of conservation management plan of an area where fossils and petrified wood has been discovered in Nakhon Ratchasima. Bangkok: Office of Environmental Policy and Planning
Vozenin-Serra, C., and Prive-Gill, C. (1989). Bois Plio-Pleistocenes du gisement de Saropee, Plateau de Khorat, Est de la Thai1ande. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 60: 225 - 254.
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Vozenin-Serra, C., Prive-Gill, C., and Ginsburg, L. (1989). Bois Miocenes du gisement de Pong, Nord-ouest de la Thai1ande. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 58: 333 - 355 .
Wang, Y., Zhang, W., Zheng, S., Jintasakul, P., Grote, P. J., and Boonchai, N. (2006). Recent advances in the study of Mesozoic-Cenozoic petrified wood from Thailand. Natural Science.
Zhang, W., Wang, Y., and Zheng, S. (2004). Identification results and technical report for the petrified woods from the Mesozoic to Cenozoic of Thailand. (Unpublished manuscript) 27 pp.
