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Reuters

Researchers in Thailand have unearthed a rare, partially fossilised skeleton belonging to a Bryde’s whale believed to be around 5,000 years old, at an inland site west of Bangkok.
The skeleton measuring 12.5 metres (41ft), about the length of a bus, was found in early November by a cyclist, who spotted part of a vertebrae coming out of the ground.
Since then, a team of scientists have been excavating the site.

“This whale skeleton is thought to be the only one in Asia,” said Pannipa Saetian, a geologist in the Fossil Protection division of the Department of Mineral Resources.
“It’s very rare to find such a discovery in near-perfect condition,” said Pannipa, estimating that about 90 per cent of the whale’s skeleton had been recovered.
“Yesterday, we found the right shoulder and fin,” she said, noting that about 36 backbone pieces had been unearthed.

The bones needed to be carbon-dated to determine the exact age of the skeleton, she said.
Once the painstaking process of cleaning and preserving the fragile skeleton is complete, it will be exhibited.
The oldest story ever told is painted on a cave wall in Indonesia
Scientists hope the skeleton will provide more information to aid research into Bryde’s whale populations existing today as well as the geological conditions at the time.
Bryde’s whales, sometimes known as tropical whales for their preference for warmer waters, are found in coastal waters in parts of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, including in the Gulf of Thailand.

Highly endangered, there are some 200 remaining of the whales in the South Pacific nation’s waters, and about 100,000 worldwide.
In 2016, New Zealand researchers gained insight into a pair of Bryde’s whales feeding off an Auckland coast in one of the first uses of drone technology to study the animals.
The footage revealed an adult and calf frolicking in the water and using a “lunge” feeding technique to feast on plankton and shoals of small fish.
Lost treasures emerge in Cambodia’s hunt for historic sites
In 2014, a 10.8-metre-long whale, thought to be a Bryde’s whale, washed up at a remote beach in Hong Kong’s New Territories.
Conservationists said it could have died at sea before drifting to an inner bay off Hung Shek Mun, in Plover Cove Country Park.
Additional reporting by AFP


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Thailand

Whale fossil unearthed in Thailand could be about 5,000 years old: scientists

Thai archaeologists stand next to a whale skeleton in Pathum Thani, Thailand on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Thai archaeologists clean a whale skeleton, thought to be between 3,000 and 5,000 years old and belonging to a Bryde's whale, in a laboratory in Pathum Thani, Thailand December 4, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

A Thai archaeologist uncovers a whale skeleton, thought to be between 3,000 and 5,000 years old and belonging to a Bryde's whale at Samut Sakhon, Thailand December 4, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

A Thai archaeologist stands next to a whale skeleton, thought to be between 3,000 and 5,000 years old and belonging to a Bryde's whale in laboratory, in Pathum Thani, Thailand December 4, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

Bodies of rich man and slave scalded to death by volcanic eruption 2,000 years ago unearthed in Italy

The skeletons were found during excavation of a villa in Italy’s Pompeii. Photo: AP

Remains of two men who died in the volcanic eruption that destroyed the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in 79 AD are discovered in a dig carried out during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Pompeii, Italy November 18, 2020. Picture taken November 18, 2020. Luigi Spina/Handout via REUTERS REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Liangzhu: the 5,000-year-old Chinese civilisation that time forgot

A model of a construction scene at Liangzhu, in Zhejiang province. Photo: Liangzhu Museum

IRAQ - JULY 01:  The treasures of Baghdad miraculously reappear in Iraq in July, 2003 - The Uruk archeological site (3rd millennium BC), southern Iraq: The presence of a family of heavily armed Bedouins has until now successfully prevented the plundering of the temple of Anu and other monuments and vestiges of this ancient Sumerian city.  (Photo by Marc DEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)[19APRIL2020 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]CREDIT: Getty Images

Handout image shows a Jessica Rawson at the University of Oxford.[19APRIL2020 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

A reconstruction of a building at the site. Photo: Getty Images

Liu Bin, head of the Liangzhu archaeological team, introduces jade items during the "Liangzhu and Ancient China: The 5,000-Year Civilization Demonstrated by Jades" exhibition at the Palace Museum, also known as the Forbidden City, in Beijing, China, 16 July 2019.An exhibition featuring China's newly elected UNESCO World Heritage site, the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, opened at the Palace Museum in Beijing Tuesday (16 July 2019). The exhibition, titled "Liangzhu and Ancient China: The 5,000-Year Civilization Demonstrated by Jades," will showcase a total of 260 items. A variety of jade objects, such as cong (jade tubes with quadrilateral exteriors), bi(jade disks), and yue (axe-shaped jade) will be displayed, as jade contains the essence of Liangzhu civilization. With four parts, the exhibition aims to reflect features of an early regional state of Liangzhu civilization and its influence on later culture, as well as explain the significance of Liangzhu to the Chinese civiliza

Tourists visit the archaeological site. Photo: Getty Images

This aerial photo shows a general view of the Liangzhu City in Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province on July 6, 2019. - The UNESCO World Heritage Committee on July 6, 2019 inscribed China's Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City on the World Heritage List as a cultural site, local media reported. (Photo by - / AFP) / China OUT[19APRIL2020 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]CREDIT: Getty Images

An excavated site in Liangzhu.

Lost treasures emerge in Cambodia’s hunt for historic sites as locals dream of tourist dollars

A newly discovered 6m-long Buddhist carving on Kangva hill in Pursat province, Cambodia. Photo: Peter Ford

A soldier from Kbal Domrei village, running his hands over the centuries-old newly discovered buddhist carving on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Ford

Bun Sopheap, who rediscovered the reclining Buddha carving, on his new task of excavating a nearby small cave on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Ford

Excellency Eng Kuntea, pointing out roosting bats in the cave he is having excavated in search of more discoveries close to a newly discovered Buddhist statue, a reclining Buddha on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Alan Ford

Villagers-cum-guides Thorn Thoeurn (R) and Nyorn Channy, along with a local soldier, stand next to the newly discovered Buddhist carving on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Ford

Some of the newly discovered pottery, as yet undated, on display near the newly discovered carving of a reclining Buddha on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Ford

Local villager and new carving guide Thorn Thoeurn, praying in front of the Buddha carving on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Ford

Pre-Ankorian beads, now in the hands of the local pagoda, at site of the newly discovered Buddhist carving, a reclining Buddha, on Kangva hill in Pursat province in Cambodia, February 08, 2020. 08FEB20[31MARCH2020 FEATURES]CREDIT: Peter Ford

The oldest story ever told: a painting of pigs on a cave wall in Indonesia, archaeologists claim

Cave art inside Bulu Sipong 4, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo: Handout via AFP

A photo-stitched panorama of the scene at the Sulawesi cave in Indonesia. On the far right, small humanlike figures confront an animal. MUST CREDIT: Adam Brumm/Ratno Sardi/Adhi Agus Oktaviana

This handout photography releases by Griffith University on December 11, 2019, shows cave art inside Bulu Sipong 4, Sulawesi, Indonesia. - A hunting scene painted 44,000 years ago, the oldest known to date, whose half-human, half-animal representations suggest a successful artistic culture, or even the beginnings of a religion, was discovered in a prehistoric cave in Indonesia, has been revealed in a study on December 11. (Photo by RATNO SARDI / GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/RATNO SARDI/GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Meet the 18,000-year-old prehistoric puppy found frozen in Russia’s permafrost

An 18,000-year-old puppy found in permafrost in Russia, on display at the Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum. Photo: AP

This is a handout photo taken on Monday, Sept. 24, 2018, showing a 18,000 years old Puppy found in permafrost in the Russia's Far East, on display at the Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum, Russia. Russian scientists have presented a unique prehistoric canine, believed to be 18,000 years old and found in permafrost in the Russia's Far East, to the public on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (Sergei Fyodorov, Yakutsk Mammoth Museum via AP)

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Researchers began excavating a site in Bangkok after a cyclist spotted a bone sticking out from the ground in November
The skeleton, which is about the length of a bus, ‘is thought to be the only one in Asia’, says a geologist working on the project



Researchers began excavating a site in Bangkok after a cyclist spotted a bone sticking out from the ground in November.


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