The remains of a fossil found in a park in Cha Am could be almost 300 million years old, officials have estimated.
The fossil was discovered in the Khao Nang Phanthurat Forest Park with officials believing it to be between 250 and 290 million years old.
The exact species and classification have yet to be determined, but the fossil is thought to be a crinoid – meaning that it is from part of a large group of marine invertebrate animals called echinoderms.
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Other echinoderms are starfish, brittle stars, sand dollars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers.
However, the fossil found in Cha Am is likely from a creature which is now extinct.
Officials said the fossil is likely from the Permian period, which lasted from 298.9 million to 251.9 million years ago and almost 50 million years before the Age of the Dinosaurs.
On Thursday (Jan 26) Mr. Pichai Watcharawongphaiboon, director of the 3rd Conservation Area Management Office (Sor.Bor.3), Phetchaburi branch received a report from Ms. Netnapha Ngamnet, head of Khao Nang Phanthurat Forest Park, Cha-Am District that a fossil had been discovered by a team of researchers from the Department of Mineral Resources.
Palaeontologists and scientists from the Department of Mineral Resources say they plan to conduct a detailed exploration of fossils at the Khao Nang Phanthurat Forest Park.
