Tourist finds 120-million-year-old dinosaur footprint in Thailand

A tourist named Pichai Prathetsena discovered a dinosaur footprint while visiting Phu Phra Bat National Park in Thailand.

After taking a photo of the indentation, Prathetsena shared the image on Facebook. Government officials spotted the post and sent experts to the site to examine the find. The experts identified the 11.4-inch-by-10.2-inch print as one of six trace fossils dating back to the Early Cretaceous period.

These impressions suggest the dinosaur was a carnivorous theropod with hind legs measuring about 4 feet, 8 inches and a body length exceeding 20 feet. While the specific species remains unconfirmed, the find represents the first carnivorous dinosaur prints discovered in the Udon Thani Province. The Thai Department of Mineral Resources is now working to protect the site from water damage and erosion. The agency says it may develop the location into a research hub for fossils and geology.

Thailand has recorded 25 dinosaur species to date, including 13 species found nowhere else in the world.