12C
Monday, August 19, 1996
CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Ancestor of T. Rex found in northwestern Thailand
Country proves to have wealth of dino fossils
The Associated Press
PHU WIANG, Thailand — With visions of the gigantic T. Rex from Jurassic Park wreaking terror in their minds, the four visitors behold the skimpy remains of the world's oldest known tyrannosaur with a twinge of disappointment.
Staring back from the dry stream bed, oblivious to Hollywood block-busters or national pride, lay the tail bones of an ancestor of Tyrannosaurus Rex experts estimate are 20 million years older than any previously known specimen.
"I thought there would be some more than this, and it would be bigger," said Nara Vaeuson, a radiology professor at a Bangkok hospital. "But Thailand can still be very proud of it."
Recent publication of the discovery in the scientific journal Nature revealed to the world — and most Thais — that this Southeast Asian country has proven a treasure trove of dinosaur fossils since excavations began just 15 years ago.
Buddhist monks find bones after seeing dinosaurs in meditations. Villagers plunder fossils in the belief they have magical powers. Even the semirevered royal family has a dinosaur named after it.
But few knew much about Thailand's dinosaurs until the tyrannosaur discovery was disclosed.
"Everybody knows tyrannosaurus from Jurassic Park," said Varavudh Suteethorn, chief paleontologist in the country's dinosaur digs. "And since this is the oldest known ancestor, everybody is curious."
A geologist uncovered the tyranosaur fossils in 1993 at the Phu Wiang National Park, an oasis of rocky hills and trees some 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of the capital. Bangkok.
The park lies in the Korat Plateau, where fossil-rich Mesozoic-era sedimentary rock has been thrust to the surface. Most Thai fossils have turned up there since a geologist seeking uranium found a dinosaur thigh bone in the late 1970s.
Like most fossil finds, the tyrannosaurus skeleton was only partial. The surviving portion — the tail and pelvic structure — probably lay more deeply buried than the rest in primordial mud that turned to stone.
But what remained was enough for Suteethorn and Eric B败betaut, chief French paleontologist in the Franco-Thai team coordinating the fossil research projects, to identify a tyrannosaur from the telltale hip structure.
At 6.3 meters (21 feet) long and weighing two tons, the predator was about half the length and a third the weight of its monster descendant, Tyrannosaurus Rex, but looked very similar.
It lived 120 million to 130 million years ago, about 50 million years before the oldest traces of T. Rex found in Asia and North America. The find bolsters theories that tyrannosaurs evolved in Asia and migrated to North America — like humans millennia later.
The beast has been dubbed Siamotyrannus Isanesis, after Siam, the old name of Thailand, and Isan, the northeast region where it was located.
news of the discovery has sent a flood of visitors — up to 1,000 a day
on holidays — to the formerly sleepy national park for an arduous climb to see the remains.
The hip has been removed to France for study, but the tail bones remain, surrounded by chain link fence and protected from seasonal rains by a tin roof.
Visitors are allowed to gently touch the bones, believing doing so will bring long life.
Local and national officials, arguing over tourist revenue and scientific preservation, are bickering over which proposed natural history museum should house the bones.
Meanwhile, rangers keep watch around the clock to keep away thieves who have stolen bones from some of Thailand's 25 other sites to make magic charms.
"We try to educate people that this is our country's precious heritage," said Sathathorn Polandlam, a ranger who guides visitors. "But people think if they make a Buddha image from a bone, they can't be wounded by a knife or bullet."
North:astern Thailand may be the country's poorest province, but it's rich in dinosaur remains.
Suteethorn believes that the trannosaurus find is outweighed by the graveyard of at least six plant-eating dinosaurs discovered at a Buddhist monastery about two hours drive east of Phu Wiang.
The venerable 71-year-old abbot, Prakru Vichtsahasakul, found the first bone himself.
"I first saw a dinosaur in 1992 when I was meditating." Vichitsa-hasakul, wrapped in a saffron robe, tells the curious kneeled at his feet in a temple building where golden images of the Budda mingle with plastic toy dinosaurs.
"At that time, I had no idea what kind of animal it was," Vichitsahasakul recalled. "It was huge, a lot
bigger than an elephant, and had a long neck."
In 1994, Vichttahasakul had the longest meditation of his life three days and three nights — filled with dinosaurs.
The monk went to the site in his visions, where a road was under construction at the monastery. He started digging and found bone fragments.
Vichitsahasakul's first scrapings have expanded to a pit 20 meters (22 yards) long by 11 meters (12 yards) wide that has yielded nearly 700 bones — and more are likely to be found.
Many bones remain articulated, so the skeletons can easily be reconstructed. They belong to at least two species of Sauropod, four-footed plant-eaters with long necks and tails.
"In only a few places in the world are so many dinosaurs quick-buried by nature like this," Suteethorn said. "They are very rare."
Experts believe the site was once a bend in a primeval river where the floating carcasses of dead dinosaurs snagged to a halt and became a buffet for meat-eaters. Two carnivore teeth, probably from Siamotryannus, were found at the site, indicating the predator came to the river to scavenge.
Some bones likely belong to Phwiangosaurus sirindhornae, a species named for Princess Sirindhorn, second daughter of King Bhumibol, Thailand's highly revered monarch.
Sirindhorn has frequently visited Thailand's dinosaur digs, expressing wonder and enthusiasm. Still, no one knew how she would react having her name bestowed on a long-dead rentile.
"We asked her permission first," Suteethorn said. "She was very gracious and said yes."
Bones' magic is a curse for those who try to steal it
Tales abound of those who have stolen bones and faced bad luck
KALASIN, Thailand — Thieves thinking of stealing supposedly magical dinosaur bones should reflect on a letter written by Jirawat Srangsuk, his wife and brother.
Displayed next to three bone fragments, it reads:
But the magic may be more of
With dinosaur bones popping up across the region — Thailand's poorest — some people hoping the powerful magic they think anything that old contains can improve their lives.
"We've been holding these things since Dec. 14, 1994. Since then, my business has gone under and I'm bankrupt and my family is suffering, so we've decided to return these things."
The letter is on display at a Buddhist monastery in northeastern Thailand where the fossilized remains of six dinosaurs have been discovered.
a curse. Tales abound of a monk who was paralyzed after stealing a bone to improve his preaching powers, or a family that fell ill after eating dinosaur bone soup.
True or not, the monastery dig site attracts a lot of attention. Visitors typically toss in a 1 baht (4-cent) coin through the fence surrounding the fossils in the belief they will earn merit for their next lives.
The researchers, preoccupied with classifying the bones, normally let the coins gather for a few weeks before presenting perhaps 4,000 ($160) or so to the abbot.
One morning in June, they found that the fence had been cut through overnight. Panicked, they counted every single bone to make sure none had been stolen.
None had. But not a coin was to be found.
The team now scoops up the coins every couple of days.
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