New fossil woods from the Mesozoic Khorat Group of Thailand and their palaeoecological implications

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Marc Philippe
Pratueng Jintasakul
Nareerat Boonchai

Abstract

Despite its limited stratigraphical value, fossil wood has been revealed to be of interest to characterize the palaeoenvironment evolution during the sedimentation of the Khorat Group. It helps understand the ecosystems in which the rich Thai Dinosaur faunas evolved. The available Khorat group fossil wood record was, however, mostly from the northeastern Thailand (Isan). New data are presented here, from the southwestern Isan provinces of Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima. Although 17 new samples were studied, specific diversity was not increased, which suggests that the taxonomical investigation of the Khorat wood record is quite complete. Fossil wood from the Phu Phan Formation is reported for the fi rst time, and assigned to the genus Shimakuroxylon. Despite being sedimentologically similar, the Phra Wihan and Phu Phan formations seem to yield different woods, which suggests that they may have had different palaeoecology or provenance.

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References

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