Fossils of rhino species dating back up to 50,000 years discovered in Vietnam
Saturday, October 05, 2019, 16:06 GMT+7
Three fossil items believed to belong to a rhino species that dates back between 30,000 and 50,000 years have been found in an ancient cave at a national park in the north-central Vietnamese province of Quang Binh.
The fossils were discovered last month by two local men of the Ruc ethnic minority group deep inside the cave at the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park, deputy director of the park’s management told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday.
Tri said the men, Tran Xuan Bao and Tran Xuan Le, had taken him to the scene, a cave about two meters wide and 20 meters long, to see the fossil items firsthand.
The items comprise two big animal teeth and a part of a jawbone with four teeth and three alveoli.
Upon taking over the fossils, Tri has called on the Vietnamese Archaeological Association in Hanoi to examine the items' identification and dating.
The association responded in a document in late September that all of the three fossils are jaw teeth of Rhinoceros siensis, a rhino species of the Rhinocerotidae family and the Pesissodactyla order.
Association Professor and Doctor Nguyen Lan Cuong, secretary of the association, said the fossils possibly date back 30,000 and 50,000 years.
The Vietnamese Archaeological Association is expected to conduct an archeological exploration inside the cave within this month to see if there are any other fossils.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
