Khok Kruat Formation
Encyclopedia
The Khok Kruat Formation is a rock formation found in northeastern Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. It is one of the formations of the Khorat Group. It is of Aptian
Aptian
The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...

 stage (Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

), and is notable for its fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s of dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s. It is equivalent to the Gres superieurs Formation
Gres superieurs Formation
The Gres superieurs Formation is a geological formation in Laos whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. It is equivalent to the Khok Kruat Formation of Thailand....

 of Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

.

Vertebrate fauna

The Khok Kruat Formation has yielded remains of sharks, fishes, turtles, crocodilians and pterosaurs. Phuwiangosaurus
Phuwiangosaurus
Phuwiangosaurus is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was a titanosaur which lived in Thailand. The type species, P. sirindhornae, was described by Martin, Buffetaut, and Suteethorn in 1994, it was named to honour Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand on her...

-like teeth, Siamosaurus
Siamosaurus
Siamosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur from Early Cretaceous Thailand. The size of the animal is unknown, but it may have reached a length of about 9.1 meters . The type species, Siamosaurus suteethorni, was formally described by Buffetaut and Ingavat in 1986...

-like teeth, and fragmentary remains of spinosaurids have also been recovered from it.

Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s reported from the Khok Kruat Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Psittacosaurus
Psittacosaurus
Psittacosaurus is a genus of psittacosaurid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Asia, about 130 to 100 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich dinosaur genus...


P. sattayaraki
  • Ban Dong Bang Noi

"Well preserved left dentary and an incomplete maxilla
Maxilla
The maxilla is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible , which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis. Sometimes The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper...

."

A ceratopsia
Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...

n.

Ratchasimasaurus
Ratchasimasaurus
Ratchasimasaurus is a genus of non-hadrosaurid iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur from Early Cretaceous Khok Kruat Formation of Nakhon Ratchasima Province in northeastern Thailand. One autapomorphy of Ratchasimasaurus is its elongated and flat ramus of the dentary...


R. suranareae

An iguanodontian ornithopod
Ornithopod
Ornithopods or members of the clade Ornithopoda are a group of ornithischian dinosaurs that started out as small, bipedal running grazers, and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, and dominated the North American...

.

Siamodon
Siamodon
Siamodon is a genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur from Early Cretaceous deposits of northeastern Thailand. Siamodon is known from the holotype PRC-4, a well-preserved left maxilla and from the referred materials PRC-5, an isolated maxillary tooth and PRC-6, a braincase...


S. nimngami
  • Ban Saphan Hin

PRC-4, a well-preserved left maxilla
Maxilla
The maxilla is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper jaw. This is similar to the mandible , which is also a fusion of two halves at the mental symphysis. Sometimes The maxilla (plural: maxillae) is a fusion of two bones along the palatal fissure that form the upper...

, PRC-5, an isolated maxillary tooth
Tooth
Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...

 and PRC-6, a braincase.

An iguanodontian ornithopod.
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