A large vertebrate fossil at Naga Mas cave, Bukit Lanno, Kinta Valley

H. D. Tjia (2010) A large vertebrate fossil at Naga Mas cave, Bukit Lanno, Kinta Valley. In: Geological heritage of Malaysia: geoheritage conservation (1997-2009). Institut Alam Sekitar dan Pembangunan (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, pp. 107-114. ISBN 9789675227370

One of the twin limestone caves at Bukit Lanno near Kepayang Village, Kinta Valley, Perak, contains a large vertebrate skeleton embedded in its ceiling. The fossil is almost complete and cursory examination of the exposed parts of its destination suggests a carnivorous or omnivorous animal, possibly a small tiger, a bear, or a wild dog. The fossil-bearing ceiling is about 38 m above the Kinta Valley pain, while its cave floor is 31 m above the plain. A complicated morphological sequence of event comprising subsurface cave formation, subaerial exposure through general denudation involving a vertical distance of two scores or more metres, travertine-filling, renewed partial burial and a second phase of exhumation seems necessary to explain the peculiar position of the fossil. These considerations suggest the fossil to be more than 700,000 years old. In the early 1990s, one sample of the fossil-embedding travertine was studied by Atsushi Tani (then a doctoral candidate at the University of Osaka, Japan) using the electron-spin resonance method. The preliminary result was encouraging with respect to the earlier estimated age. For practical reasons only in early 2000, Dr Tani and several local collaborators were able to deploy dosimeters that are expected to put the ESR-date at a firm footing. Results are expected to be available by mid-2001.

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Abstract

One of the twin limestone caves at Bukit Lanno near Kepayang Village, Kinta Valley, Perak, contains a large vertebrate skeleton embedded in its ceiling. The fossil is almost complete and cursory examination of the exposed parts of its destination suggests a carnivorous or omnivorous animal, possibly a small tiger, a bear, or a wild dog. The fossil-bearing ceiling is about 38 m above the Kinta Valley pain, while its cave floor is 31 m above the plain. A complicated morphological sequence of event comprising subsurface cave formation, subaerial exposure through general denudation involving a vertical distance of two scores or more metres, travertine-filling, renewed partial burial and a second phase of exhumation seems necessary to explain the peculiar position of the fossil. These considerations suggest the fossil to be more than 700,000 years old. In the early 1990s, one sample of the fossil-embedding travertine was studied by Atsushi Tani (then a doctoral candidate at the University of Osaka, Japan) using the electron-spin resonance method. The preliminary result was encouraging with respect to the earlier estimated age. For practical reasons only in early 2000, Dr Tani and several local collaborators were able to deploy dosimeters that are expected to put the ESR-date at a firm footing. Results are expected to be available by mid-2001.

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Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Available at Perpustakaan Sultan Abdul Samad, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43000 UPM Serdang, Malaysia. QE299.5 G345 Call Number
AGROVOC Term:	vertebrates
AGROVOC Term:	fossils
AGROVOC Term:	palaeontology
AGROVOC Term:	surveying
AGROVOC Term:	research
AGROVOC Term:	geologists
AGROVOC Term:	educational resources
AGROVOC Term:	preservation
Geographical Term:	Malaysia
Depositing User:	Ms. Azariah Hashim
Date Deposited:	02 Dec 2024 08:54
Last Modified:	02 Dec 2024 08:54
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/1000

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