Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum

Entrance to the Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum

The Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum ( Thai พิพิธภัณฑ์ ไดโนเสาร์ ภูเวียง ) is a geological museum that mainly exhibits fossils . It is managed by the Department of mineral deposits in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Department of Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment).

location

Location of the Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum

The Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum is located in Wiang Kao District , Province of Khon Kaen in northeastern Thailand , known as Isan . It is about 87 km west of the provincial capital. The site has an area of around 16 hectares .

exhibition

The museum building is located within an extensive garden area in which sculptures of various dinosaurs are presented. In the museum itself, the exhibition begins with a brief overview of the history of the earth , beginning with the formation of the solar system through to the appearance of humans. However, the focus is on the presentation of Thai dinosaur finds, especially from the Phu Wiang region.

Several excavation sites are accessible to visitors in the nearby national park itself. The sites were covered with small buildings and show the fossils or replicas true to the original in the context of the original find.

The museum is open every day except Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

history

First discovery of a dinosaur in Thailand

In 1976 the first dinosaur was found on Thai soil in the Phu Wiang area. In 1976, as part of a prospecting campaign on uranium ore, geologist Sutham Yaemniyom discovered a fossil bone that was later identified as part of a sauropod's thigh . From the early 1980s onwards, the area was investigated in more detail by a Thai-French research team with the participation of Éric Buffetaut and Varavudh Suteethorn . The excavations revealed numerous other finds of bones, teeth and traces of dinosaurs from about 130 million years ago. The find area was placed under protection in December 1991 as part of the Phu Wiang National Park . The Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum was built between 1999 and 2000 by the Department of Mineral Resources in cooperation with the Thai Tourism Authority and the Provincial Government of Khon Kaen, around 3 km away from the actual park area. The museum opened in 2001.

Dinosaur species

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Department of Mineral Resources: Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum.Retrieved November 18, 2018
^ ^A ^b E. Cohen: Dinosaurs in Thai Culture and Tourism. In: Tourism, Culture & Communication , Vol. 10, pp. 117–135, 2010. (digitized version )

↑ ^a ^b ^c N. Boonchain, PJ Grote & P. Jintasakul: Paleontological parks and museums and prominent fossil sites in Thailand and their importance in the conservation of fossils. In: JH Lipps & BRC Granier (eds.): PaleoParks - The protection and conservation of fossil sites worldwide. Carnets de Géologie / Notebooks on Geology, Chapter 7, pp. 75–95, Brest, 2009. (CG2009_BOOK_03 / 07) (digitized version )

^ ^A ^b W. Songtham & B. Sektheera: Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae. 106 pp., Department of Mineral Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Bangkok, 2006. ISBN 978-974-226-410-9 (digitized version )