UMK Researchers Claim They Have Uncovered 7 Huge Dinosaur Footprints In Kelantan
The discovery, if true, could mean dinosaurs once existed in what we now know as Tanah Merah, Kelantan around 160 to 66 million years ago.
By Sadho Ram — 16 Aug 2020, 07:21 PM
Seven fossilised footprints of dinosaurs from the Sauropod species have been uncovered in Bukit Panau, Tanah Merah, Kelantan, claims a team of researchers from the Department of Geoscience, Faculty of Earth Sciences (FSB), Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK)
The fossilised footprints are believed to be between 145,000 and 66 million years old, according to the team of researchers that was led by FSB lecturer Arham Muchtar Achmad Bahar.
The discovery of the fossils was made following a geoscience exploration.
Arham Muchtar said the research was started in May 2017 and it helped the team, which included Prof Surono Martosuwito, Prof Udi Hartono, and Mohd Syakir Sulaiman, to discover the fossils of the footprints and track route of the dinosaur from the Sauropod subgroup.
The Sauropod dinosaurs were known for their "very long necks, long tails, small heads, and four thick, pillar-like legs". The group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land.
For example, the longest sauropod known was 108 to 112ft long. In comparison, the reticulated python, which is the longest terrestrial animal alive today, only reaches lengths of 22.8ft.
If true, it could mean that dinosaurs once existed in what we now know as Tanah Merah, Kelantan around 160 to 66 million years ago
According to Arham Muchtar, the discovery of the fossils of seven footprints of the Sauropod species was among the outcome of the exploration and research activities carried out by his team in Kelantan.
He said the discovery was a meaningful success for UMK, especially with the establishment of the Department of Geoscience, Faculty of Earth Sciences which conducts research on the life of dinosaurs.
"Researchers spent more than 10,000 hours investigating and tracking dinosaurs in Kelantan and the traces of the tracks found have also been confirmed by experts from the Dinosaur World in Japan," he said.
"The existence of dinosaurs in Bukit Panau has also been expected by many geologists based on the geological conditions that can be associated with some areas in southern Thailand that also contain dinosaur fossils."
Historically Tanah Merah used to be the capital of a kingdom called Chi Tu.
According to Wikipedia, Chinese Sui Dynasty annals of the 7th century describe an advanced kingdom called Chi Tu ("Red Earth") in the area now called Kelantan.
