A team of experts from the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia has confirmed the discovery of a wood fossil dating back approximately 250 to 300 million years at the Phnom Kang Va Mountain Reserve near the city of Serei Sophorn in Banteay Meanchey Province. This is the oldest wood fossil ever found in Cambodia.
Cambodia discovers the oldest wood fossil to date. (Photo: CPC Ministry of Environment).
According to the team leader, Mr. Lim Vannachan, Director of the Cultural Heritage Department under the General Directorate of Local Communities, Ministry of Environment of Cambodia, in addition to the mentioned wood fossil, experts have also discovered marine organism fossils in the excavation area. This indicates that the fossils may belong to plant and animal species that thrived during a time when the area was still an island in the Permian period around 300 million years ago, during the late Paleozoic era.
Previously, experts had discovered 14 wood fossils in Cambodia, located in the provinces of Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, Koh Kong, and Banteay Meanchey.
In 2022, a team of Cambodian and international experts also unearthed the first dinosaur fossils at the Koh Por Reserve in Koh Kong Province. These fossils are believed to belong to a group of large long-necked dinosaurs (Sauropods).
The excavation and study of fossils in these reserves are part of Cambodia’s environmental protection strategy, which focuses on green, clean, and sustainable development, protecting natural resources, and facilitating scientific research.
