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The oldest known dinosaur from southeast Asia: a prosauropod from the Nam Phong Formation (late Triassic) of northeastern Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Eric Buffetaut
Affiliation:
URA 1761 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Paléontologie des Vertébres, Case 106, Université Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
Valérie Martin
Affiliation:
Musée des Dinosaures, 11260 Espéraza, France
Nares Sattayarak
Affiliation:
Mineral Fuels Division, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Varavudh Suteethorn
Affiliation:
Geological Survey Division, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand

Abstract

The distal part of the fused ischia of a prosauropod from the Nam Phong Formation (late Triassic) of Phetchabun Province, in northeastern Thailand, is described. Comparisons with various prosauropods, as well as with an early sauropod, show that the Thai specimen is especially robust. However, the available material is too incomplete to warrant a precise identification. It is the first vertebrate fossil found in the Nam Phong Formation, the oldest known dinosaur from southeast Asia, and the first prosauropod to be reported from that region.

Type
Rapid Communication
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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