This year, ‘dinosaur’ mania descended on Malaysia when two consecutive discoveries of fossils from that prehistoric era were made separately in Pahang and Terengganu.
In February, University Malaya (UM) released to the media the news that an expedition led by UM’s Dr Masatoshi Sone and his team have discovered the first dinosaur fossils of a Spinosaurid sauropod in Malaysia in the state of Pahang. In his media release posted on the university’s website, Masatoshi recounted how he took his time carefully cleaning the fossil and waited with anticipation to confirm the results after making the initial discovery in the middle of last year.
Just nine months later, another team of scientists and geologists who were part of a 10-day expedition organized by the Mineral and Geoscience Department and the Malaysian Geological Heritage Group, trekked up Mount Gagau in Terengganu and discovered what they believed to be dinosaur fossils dating back over 66 million years ago.
Malaysian Digest managed to speak with one of the members of the Terengganu expedition, Ahmad Rosli Othman, who is a Senior Geoscience Officer at the Department of Minerals & Geosciences Malaysia Kelantan.
‘Palaeontology is art, science, and imagination’
The quote above was part of an article posted on Ahmad’s own blog, Blog Trias Malaysia, in an article on Palaeontology by Richard K. Stucky. Ahmad Rosli, who describes himself as a palaeontologist blogger currently working on Triassic fossils, has written and published many academic research papers on the Triassic period.
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| Ahmad Rosli Othman, Senior Geoscience Officer at the Department of Minerals & Geosciences Malaysia Kelantan [Credit: Malaysian Digest] |
“Our knowledge about dinosaur fossil is still insufficient, some do not even believe in its existence. The study of palaeontology is only taught at university level at University Malaya and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.”
Shedding light on what led to the recent spate of fossil discoveries in Malaysia, Ahmad Rosli explained that “we have to thank our neighbour, Thailand, because they are the ones who sparked the interest for dinosaur fossil discovery in Malaysia.”
“The interest was ignited by our neighbouring country, Thailand after they have found a dinosaur fossil within rock succession that is similar to Malaysia.” Ahmad Rosli said. Geologists have noticed the similarities in the rock formations between Malaysia and Thailand and theorized that it shows a great likelihood of finding more dinosaur fossils in Malaysia.
Thailand is known to fossil hunters as the ‘dinosaur capital of Southeast Asia’ where the first fossil was found back in 1976 and since then over 10,000 specimens have been discovered according to media reports.
Ahmad Rosli further added “The Department of Minerals And Geosciences Malaysia (JMG Malaysia) under the Ministry Of Natural Resources And Environment has taken the initiative to form a team to track dinosaur fossils joined by geologists from other local universities. In 2014, the team has targeted Gunung Gagau and as a result they have found dinosaur foot prints, teeth, and bones.”
JMG Malaysia is currently working closely with experts from outside Malaysia to identified the dinosaurs especially experts from Thailand.
With the recent discoveries, perhaps Malaysians might be inspired to start digging their backyard or front yard in hope of finding a fossil. But wait, Ahmad Rosli has some expert advice for budding dinosaur explorers. He said “Dinosaur fossil can only be found in specific rock succession that is located in areas of thick forest such as Taman Negara which makes the expedition rather difficult. “
“The areas are Gunung Tahan, Gunung Gagau, Gunung Panti, Tembeling’s area, Endau-Rompin’s area dan Maran’s area. These areas have rock successions that hold dinosaur fossils from Jurassic Age and Cretaceous Age.”
Well so much for finding a dinosaur bone in our own backyard. However, the impact of the recent discoveries has been very beneficial in generating new funding and students interested in taking on this area of study.
Ahmad Rosli added “At the same time, a few institutions have offered research grants to focus more on dinosaur fossil research. A number of local students will be sent to further their study in a country that has the expertise regarding dinosaur fossil research.”
This investment in future dinosaur experts for Malaysia is necessary as Ahmad Rosli observed, “Currently Malaysia does not have experts that specialized in dinosaur fossil research but we do have a few experts in other fossil research like plant fossil, brachiopod fossil, mollusc fossil and radiolaria fossil.”
For amateur fossil hunters, Ahmad Rosli has some practical advice. He explained that “until today there is no equipment that specifically can detect dinosaur fossils. The search focus is in an area that has a rock formation that is visible on the surface or outcrop like in an area near rivers and hills.” So, some basic knowledge of rock formations and terrains is necessary to identify possible dinosaur fossils hotspots.
According to Ahmad Rosli, “right now they are planning to expand the search. The search will be focused in areas in the state of Pahang and Kelantan due to the recent discoveries. Long term, the effort to discover dinosaur fossil will continue to expand on the areas mentioned above.”
Malaysia was not the only country to mark its first dinosaur fossil discovery this year. All around the world, fossils have been turning up all year. Argentina announced earlier this month the discovery of microfossils, dinosaur’s predecessor, which was the first of its kind discovered in South America.
This was followed shortly after by South Korea, which discovered its first complete dinosaur skeleton fossil a few days ago, while Saudi Arabia also formally identified in January this year its first dinosaur fossils, which is a rarity on the Arabian Peninsula.
Many questions still remain unanswered and new questions will emerge with every new discovery around the world. Is the spate of new fossil discoveries due to increasing interest in this field, access to more funding or due to more previously unexplored terrain being opened up due to development? Isn’t it amazing that these ancient creatures from millions of years ago still fill us with wonder and fascination?
More answers will be more forthcoming as Malaysia nurtures its own team of dinosaur experts.
Author: Arief Irsyad | Source: Malaysia Digest [November 27, 2014]