Meet Siamraptor suwati, a new species of giant predatory dinosaur from Thailand

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on October 09, 2019 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Palaeontology, Thailand

Fossils discovered in Thailand represent a new genus and species of predatory dinosaur, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Duangsuda Chokchaloemwong of Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, Thailand and colleagues.

Siamraptor skull reconstruction [Credit: Chokchaloemwong et al., 2019]

Carcharodontosaurs were a widespread and successful group of large predatory dinosaurs during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods and were important members of ecosystems on multiple continents. However, the fossil record of these animals is notably lacking from the Early Cretaceous of Asia, with no definite carcharodontosaurs known from Southeast Asia.

In this study, Chokchaloemwong and colleagues describe fossil material from the Khok Kruat geologic formation in Khorat, Thailand, dating to the Early Cretaceous. These fossils include remains of the skull, backbone, limbs, and hips of at least four individual dinosaurs, and morphological comparison with known species led the authors to identify these remains as belonging to a previously unknown genus and species of carcharodontosaur which they named Siamraptor suwati.

Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Siamraptor is a basal member of the carcharodontosaurs, meaning it represents a very early evolutionary split from the rest of the group. It is also the first definitive carcharodontosaur known from Southeast Asia, and combined with similarly-aged finds from Europe and Africa, it reveals that this group of dinosaurs had already spread to three continents by the Early Cretaceous.

The authors summarize their work as follows: "A Siam predator: New carnivorous dinosaur Siamraptor suwati discovered in Thailand.

Source: Public Library of Science [October 09, 2019]

Early rice farmers unwittingly selected for weedy imposters

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on September 16, 2019 / comment : 0 Asia, Biology, China, Evolution, Genetics, South East Asia, Thailand

Early rice growers unwittingly gave barnyard grass a big hand, helping to give root to a rice imitator that is now considered one of the world's worst agricultural weeds.

New research provides genomic evidence that barnyard grass benefited from human cultivation practices,  including continuous hand weeding, as it spread out of the Yangtze River region about 1,000 years ago [Credit: Shutterstock]

New research from Zhejiang University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Washington University in St. Louis provides genomic evidence that barnyard grass (Echinochloa crus-galli) benefited from human cultivation practices, including continuous hand weeding, as it spread from the Yangtze River region about 1,000 years ago.

Barnyard grass is a globally common invasive weed of cultivated row crops and cereals. The new study was published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

"In Asia, rice farmers have traditionally planted and weeded their paddies by hand. Any weeds that stick out are easily detected and removed," said Kenneth Olsen, professor of biology in Arts & Sciences. "Over hundreds of generations, this has selected for some strains of barnyard grass that specialize on rice fields and very closely mimic rice plants. This allows them to escape detection."

Olsen collaborated on data analyses and interpretation for the new study. He is working with the study's corresponding author, Longjiang Fan of Zhejiang University, on other research related to rice evolutionary genomics and agricultural weed evolution.

This study sequenced the genomes of rice-mimic and non-mimic forms of the weed as a step towards understanding how this process has occurred.

This form of mimicry, called Vavilovian mimicry, is an adaptation of weeds to mimic domesticated plants. In the case of barnyard grass, the rice mimics grow upright like a rice plant instead of sprawling along the ground like most barnyard grass. They also have green stems like rice plants instead of the red stems more commonly found in the weed.

The common form of barnyard grass (top) has red stems, while the mimic has green stems - more like rice [Credit: Jordan R. Brock/Washington University]

"With the advent of agriculture about 10,000 years ago, humans all over the planet began creating a wonderful habitat for naturally weedy plant species to exploit," Olsen said. "The most successful and aggressive agricultural weeds were those that evolved traits allowing them to escape detection and proliferate in this fertile new environment."

The researchers estimate that the mimic version of E. crus-galli emerged at about the same time that Chinese historical records indicate that the regional economic center was shifting from the Yellow River basin to the Yangtze River basin. During this period of the Song Dynasty, human populations were growing rapidly, demand for rice as the staple grain was paramount. This is also the time when a quick-maturing, drought-resistant variety of rice called Champa rice was introduced to the Yangtze basin from Southeast Asia -- to allow two harvests in a year. Weed management in paddies might have been intensified in the context of these conditions.

Traditional farming preserves diversity of Thai purple rice

However, while common barnyard grass is a major agricultural weed in the U.S., the rice mimic form has never become widespread in the main rice growing region -- the southern Mississippi valley.

Olsen speculates that this is because U.S. rice farmers rely on mechanized farming instead of hand labor.

"Without farmers out in the fields planting and weeding by hand, there's not such strong selection for weeds to visually blend in with the rice crop," he said.

Author: Talia Ogliore | Source: Washington University in St. Louis [September 16, 2019]

Evidence suggests rare deer lived 50 years beyond 'extinction'

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on September 06, 2019 / comment : 0 Endangered Species, Natural Heritage, Thailand, Wildlife

A rare deer species that lived in central Thailand might have come back from the dead -- without the help from sci-fi-like genetic engineering.

Researchers analyzed the condition of Schomburgk's deer antlers in the 1991 photo [Credit: Gary Galbreath/Northwestern University]

Schomburgk's deer (Rucervus schomburgki) was added to the extinction list in 1938. But new evidence, gleaned from antlers obtained in late 1990 or early 1991, shows that it survived for at least an additional half century and might still be around today.

The research was published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Gary Galbreath, professor of biological sciences at Northwestern University's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, was involved in the work.

After the wild population died out from overhunting in 1932, the last known Schomburgk's deer died in captivity six years later. Or so we thought. A trucker in Laos found a set of antlers, seemingly in fresh condition, in the early 1990s. He then gave the antlers to a shop in the northern Laos province of Phongsali.

In February 1991, United Nations agronomist Laurent Chazee photographed the antlers. Galbreath and his collaborator G.B. Schroering recently analyzed the antlers' physical condition in those photos. Based on the widely spreading, basket-shaped, hyper-branched structure of the antlers, the team determined the antlers belonged to a Schomburgk's deer. (Other Asian deer's antlers do not have the same signature basket shape.)

Galbreath also confirmed that the antlers were fresh when photographed in 1991. The antlers -- spotted with dark red to reddish-brown dried blood -- had been excised from the deer's head. The color of the blood and condition of the exposed bone marrow offered clues into the antlers' age.

"The relative antiquity of the antler specimens can be assessed by the materials, such as dried marrow, still adhering to them," said Galbreath, an expert in Asian wildlife. "Even the blood was still reddish; it would become black with increased age. In the tropics, the antlers would not continue to look this way even within a matter of months."

Before they were listed as "extinct," the deer were well documented in Thailand. Galbreath believes a small population probably also lived in a remote area in central Laos, where they just might still be living today.

Source: Northwestern University [September 06, 2019]

An Ice Age savannah corridor let large mammals spread across Southeast Asia

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on August 22, 2019 / comment : 0 Early Mammals, Fossils, Palaeontology, South East Asia, Thailand

New research from the University of Tubingen indicates that the Thai-Malay Peninsula—where parts of Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand are located—was at least partly an open savannah during the Ice Age, when the peninsula was part of a much larger land now known as the Sunda Shelf. It is likely to have provided a corridor for large mammals from mainland Asia to reach today's islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java for the first time, between 120,000 and 70,000 years ago. That is the conclusion reached by Dr. Kantapon Suraprasit, a Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Tubingen and a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), and Professor Herve Bocherens of the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tubingen, working with other Thai researchers.

Paleoenvironments in Peninsular Thailand where extinct species of the spotted hyena lived during the past 100,000 years [Credit: Kantapon Suraprasit, University of Tubingen]

The team carried out isotope analyses on the teeth of Ice Age mammals found on excavations in the region. Scientists have long hotly debated how animals and early humans migrated between the mainland and the islands of Southeast Asia. These latest findings strengthen the hypothesis that a savannah corridor existed during the Ice Age, giving humans and animals relatively easy passage to the south and east from mainland Asia. The study has been published in Quaternary Science Reviews.

The Yai Ruak Cave, located in Thailand's Krabi Province, was excavated in 2017 by a team of Thai paleontologists from Chulalongkorn University and the Department of Mineral Resources (Bangkok), with the help of local people. In the cave sediments, the excavators found some near-complete lower jaw bones, individual teeth and bones. The fossils were of the Malay porcupine, the Javan rhinoceros, the Sambar deer and extinct relatives of the spotted hyena.

A mandible of the Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) in situ during excavations at Yai Ruak Cave, Thailand [Credit: Kantapon Suraprasit, University of Tubingen]

"This is the southernmost evidence found in Southeast Asia of this kind of hyena," says Herve Bocherens. This supports the hypothesis that in the Pleistocene, mammals were able to spread further south. Because sea levels were much lower during the Ice Age, today's islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java on the Sunda Shelf were connected by land bridges. Although human fossils were not found in the cave, anatomically modern humans may have been present in the area at that time, the researchers say.

Diverse ecosystems

Kantapon Suraprasit carried out carbon and oxygen isotope analyses on the tooth enamel of all the animal species found in the Yai Ruak cave, at the University of Tubingen's biogeology laboratory. Isotopes are atoms of the same chemical element with different weights. From their frequency distribution—or isotope signature—scientists can draw conclusions about the type of food an animal ate and the environmental conditions during its lifetime.

A row of teeth of the Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) in situ during excavations at Yai Ruak Cave, Thailand [Credit: Kantapon Suraprasit, University of Tubingen]

"The region where the fossils were found is now covered by rainforests. We were therefore surprised that the isotope signatures from the teeth of the spotted hyenas and Sambar deer indicate an open grassland," says Suraprasit.

But the teeth of the Javan rhinoceros and the porcupines produced isotopic signatures that match forests, Suraprasit says. He concludes that there were several different ecosystems in the area—including an open landscape.

A fossiliferous layer in the roof of the Yai Ruak Cave, Thailand [Credit: Kantapon Suraprasit, University of Tubingen]

"These results confirm that a savannah corridor existed at that time along the tropical monsoon regions, stretching to the south of what is now Thailand, as far as the latitude of the previously exposed Sunda Shelf," says Herve Bocherens.

Barrier rainforests

Of all the animals migrating south while sea levels were lower, the grassland-loving hyena may have been one of the few to be put off by a rainforest belt which curved from northern Sundaland across today's Borneo and Sumatra, crossing the savannah corridor. To date, no fossils of spotted hyenas have been found south of the Yai Ruak cave.

Map of Southeast Asia showing areas of the proposed savannah corridor (yellow). Dash lines indicate a boundary of exposed land during which sea levels were 40-50 m lower than today. Distribution areas of vegetation types and environments shown here can be further applied for the lowered sea level of up to 80m below the present-day stands [Credit: Kantapon Suraprasit, University of Tubingen]

"There were likely dense rainforests that formed a barrier. At that time, the hyenas could not go further south to the lands which are now islands, but other Yai Ruak mammal species and possibly humans could," Bocherens explains.

Pollen analyses indicate closed forest vegetation from Sumatra to Borneo back then, as well as on parts of the Malay Peninsula. The research team hopes that the ongoing excavations at Yai Ruak cave will provide more information in the future about these diverse ecosystems and their influence on the faunas of the Southeast Asian mainland and the islands.

Source: Universitaet Tubingen [August 22, 2019]

Thai dinosaur is a cousin of T. rex

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on May 28, 2019 / comment : 0 Dinosaurs, Fossils, Palaeontology, Thailand

Scientists from the University of Bonn and the Sirindhorn Museum in Thailand have identified two new dinosaur species. They analyzed fossil finds that were already discovered 30 years ago in Thailand. Both species are distant relatives of T. rex, but with a somewhat more primitive structure. They were efficient predators.

Phuwiangvenator and Vayuraptor were fast and dangerous predators. Although only half as long as its relative, the T. rex, Phuwiangvenator almost reached the size of an Asian elephant [Credit: Adun Samathi/Uni of Bonn]

Three decades ago a Thai museum employee discovered some fossilized bones during excavations. He handed them over to the Sirindhorn Museum, where they were never examined in detail. "Five years ago I came across these finds during my research," explains Adun Samathi. The Thai paleontologist is currently doing his doctorate at the Steinmann Institute of Geology, Mineralogy and Paleontology at the University of Bonn. He brought some casts of the fossils here to analyze them together with his doctoral supervisor Prof. Dr. Martin Sander using state-of-the-art methods.

The results take a new look at the history of the megaraptors ("giant thieves"). The relatives of this group of carnivorous predatory dinosaurs include the Tyrannosaurus rex. Like the T. rex, they ran on their hind legs. Unlike the tyrant lizard, however, their arms were strong and armed with long claws. They also had more delicate heads that ended in a long snout.

Adun Samathi analyzing the bone finds [Credit: University of Bonn]

"We were able to assign the bones to a novel megaraptor, which we baptized Phuwiangvenator yaemniyomi," explains Samathi. The name is reminiscent on the one hand of the location, the Phuwiang district, and on the other hand of the discoverer of the first Thai dinosaur fossil, Sudham Yaemniyom.

Phuwiangvenator was probably a fast runner. With a length of about six meters, it was considerably smaller than the T. rex, who measured about twelve meters. Megaraptors have so far been discovered mainly in South America and Australia. "We have compared the Thai fossils with the finds there," says Samathi. "Various characteristics of Phuwiangvenator indicate that it is an early representative of this group. We take this as an indication that the megaraptors originated in Southeast Asia and then spread to other regions."

Reconstruction of the predatory dinosaurs Phuwiangvenator and Vayuraptor with the marked fossil finds [Credit: Adun Samathi/Uni of Bonn]

During his research in Thailand, the doctoral student discovered further unidentified fossils. They also belong to a predatory dinosaur, which was a bit smaller with a length of about 4.5 meters. The material was not sufficient to clarify the exact ancestry. However, scientists assume that smaller dinosaur, named Vayuraptor nongbualamphuenisis, is also related to Phuwiangvenator and T. rex. "Perhaps the situation can be compared with that of African big cats," explains Samathi. "If Phuwiangvenator were a lion, Vayuraptor would be a cheetah."

The two new predatory dinosaurs will be presented to the public today on the tenth anniversary of the Sirindhorn Museum. With blue-blooded support: The event will be opened by the Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

The results have now been published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Source: University of Bonn [May 28, 2019]

Iron Age burials discovered in central Thailand

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on April 12, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Asia, South East Asia, Thailand

Pink canopy tents were erected over two opened pits in a small sugar-apple plantation not far from the Central Mosque, or Masjid Ban Suan, in Muang district of Lop Buri. At first glance, it looked like nobody was here. Then someone emerged from the site. He had a broken piece of clay pot in his hand.

Sorathach Rotchanarat excavating the second pit [Credit: Karnjana Karnijanatawe]

Sorathach Rotchanarat, an archaeologist from the Fine Arts Department, spent a couple months with his team to dig out the soil and collect evidence to indicate that there was a community living in the area since the New Iron Age, around 3,100-3,800 years ago. The site he most recently discovered is called Khok Phutsa, the newest archaeological site out of 116 that have been excavated in the Lop Buri River Basin over the past 80 years. Khok Phutsa is located about 5km from the King Narai the Great's Monument, the landmark of the city.

"I was very excited and happy when we first discovered some artefacts last December. So far we've found more than 10,000 broken clay pots and other items at this site," he said.

The human skeleton in the first pit and potholes indicating the use of land after the new Iron Age [Credit: Karnjana Karnijanatawe]

The excavation of Khok Phutsa started in December last year, after the land owner informed the Fine Arts Department about the discovery of ancient clay pot fragments. Alongside Sorathach, a team of archaeologists led by Pakpadee Yukongdi of the Fine Arts Department, together with Dr Roberto Ciarla and Dr Fiorella Rispoli from Italy, visited the site. The Italian experts worked with the Fine Arts Department through the joint Thai-Italian Lopburi Regional Archaeological Project (LoRAP), founded in 1988 to study archaeology in the Lop Buri River Basin.

Before starting the excavation at the Khok Phutsa site, the team created a map of the area. They selected two vacant lots where there were no sugar-apple trees. The size of the first pit is 4x4m and the second, 3x2m. They are a little bit far from each other.

Armbands of multiple bangles made of tin and bronze were found on the wrists of an adult's skeleton at Phu Noi site in Ban Mi district [Credit: Karnjana Karnijanatawe]

While working on each pit, they gradually removed the soil inch by inch until they reached to the natural layer of soil where there is no evidence of anthropogenic activity.

"I was thrilled when we found a human skeleton during the first month of excavation. The depth was only 1.5m," said Sorathach.

Collections of pottery dating back to the Iron Age found in Lop Buri. The items are displayed in the exhibition at King Narai National Museum in Lop Buri [Credit: Karnjana Karnijanatawe]

After the human bones were found, the team removed dirt by using smaller and softer tools like archaeology brushes. Later, they discovered the whole skeleton. It was straight with the face up. But the team can't yet tell if it's a he or a she.

When they finished digging the first pit, they found two skeletons. There was broken pottery beside the bodies. They also found a clay pot, not broken, next to the feet.

Beads made from giant clam shells [Credit: The Fine Arts Department]

Currently, the team is working on the second pit at the Khok Phutsa site. Besides the skeletons found in both pits, the team has found shells of giant clams and ornaments made from them, such as broken bangles and beads. Axes made from the shells of giant clams were also found.

"The evidence showed that the area used to be a community where people knew how to create products from giant clams. The species lives on corals, but its shells are found on land. It confirms the old knowledge that the area of Lop Buri and other provinces in the Central Region were part of the sea 8,000 years ago," he said.

A clay whistle, which may have been a musical instrument used by people in the Iron Age. The artefact was found in Tha Kae site in Muang district [Credit: The Fine Arts Department]

The team found additional artefacts belonging to people from other periods. These include small, loaf-shape skin-rubbing stones, stone axes, drum-shaped ear-studs, clay beads and pottery.

"The items show that people have lived in the area of the Khok Phutsa site since the New Iron Age to the Dvaravati period [6th-11th century]. If we look around, we will see that the site is located in a Muslim community. It means that people have lived in the area from prehistorical times until today," he said.

Carbonised rice grains [Credit: Karnjana Karnijanatawe]

All artefacts found in the two pits will be removed. Some items will be further studied in the laboratory to date them accurately, while the human bones will be extracted to get DNA. The information will also help discover if people migrated during ancient times.

The team expects to finish excavation and remove all artefacts before the monsoon season. They will cover the pits and return the site to the owner, as there is no plan to develop Khok Phutsa to be a new tourist attraction in Lop Buri.

Dr Fiorella Rispoli, left, and Dr Roberto Ciarla, middle, the Italian archaeologists, excavated the first pit of the Khok Phutsa site [Credit: The Fine Arts Department]

"We only need to collect all items we found at the site because every artefact is important evidence letting us know our history. It tells us how people lived their lives in the area that we live in today," he concluded.

Author: Karnjana Karnijanatawe | Source: Bangkok Post [April 12, 2019]

Future of elephants living in captivity hangs in the balance

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on March 26, 2019 / comment : 0 Asia, Myanmar, Natural Heritage, Thailand, Wildlife

Scientists at the University of Sheffield and University of Turku are looking at ways to boost captive populations of Asian elephants without relying on taking them from the wild.

Scientists at the University of Sheffield and University of Turku are looking at ways to boost captive populations of Asian elephants without relying on taking them from the wild [Credit: University of Sheffield]

Almost a third of Asian elephants are in captivity in countries like India, Myanmar and Thailand, mainly being used in the timber industry to drag logs or for tourism.

Sustaining wild populations is the conservation priority but, with so many individuals in captivity, maintaining sustainable captive populations with high welfare standards is also important for the future of the species.

The sustainability of these elephant populations has always relied on the capture of their wild counterparts, but now they are a protected species their future is uncertain.

In a joint research study, the University of Sheffield and the University of Turku, in Finland, working alongside The Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE), investigated how trends in elephant capture from the wild influenced birth, death and population growth in 3,500 working elephants over 54 years.

Using birth and death rates from years where wild-capture was reduced the scientists assessed the outlook for captive elephants and found that the population is vulnerable to decline.

The research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggests that immediate population declines may be reduced if survival in juvenile elephants is improved.

This could involve improving welfare standards during the training period, as the elephants are separated from their mothers and trained for work around the age of four, which can be stressful for them, and identifying pregnant females earlier and improving their welfare so they can provide for and bond with their calf.

John Jackson, PhD researcher from the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences and lead author of the paper, said: "Our model suggests we may see declines in captive elephants for up to 50 years so we must now work to ensure that the captive population is sustainable. With so many Asian elephants in captivity, we must safeguard both captive and wild elephant populations and the people living and working alongside them for the future of the species.

"One hopeful result is that we may see improvements in population growth if we are able to improve the survival of young elephants by just 10 per cent. This shows we can really make a difference by improving welfare for these vulnerable individuals in captivity."

He added: "Many of us have the opportunity to visit captive elephants used in tourism, particularly in Southeast Asia. We all have our part to play to ensure that the welfare of captive elephants is improved and this may have a positive effect on Asian elephants globally."

Professor Virpi Lummaa, from the University of Turku, who led the research, said: "The dependence of captive elephant populations on capture from the wild in the past is truly alarming. The problem with elephants is that they take so long to grow and reproduce and have very complex social lives, making them vulnerable to population declines when disturbed."

The University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences is a leading department for whole organism biology, with the UK's highest concentration of animal and plant researchers.

It is among the top five animal and plant research centres in the country for research excellence, according to the last Research Excellence Framework in 2014.

Animal and plant scientists at Sheffield study in locations from the Polar Regions to the tropics, at scales from within cells up to entire ecosystems. Their research aims both to understand the fundamental processes that drive biological systems and to solve pressing environmental problems.

Source: University of Sheffield [March 26, 2019]

Thailand calls for return of over 60 looted ancient artworks

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on November 07, 2018 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Asia, Heritage, South East Asia, Thailand

Thailand is hoping to recover 60 looted Thai artefacts from overseas, the Culture Ministry announced this week.

Thailand is calling for the return from the US of a prominent 11th-century stone lintel from Prasat Khao Lon in Sa Kaew province. [Credit: Thai. Culture Ministry]

“The ministry’s ad hoc committee has called for the repatriation of dozens of artefacts that originated in Thailand from leading US museums and a UK museum,” Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat said at a press conference at the National Library in Bangkok.

“After a one-year investigation aimed at bringing hundreds of looted Thai art pieces from the US, we are expecting to get back more that 60 heritage artworks in the near future,” he said.

Vira said the Prayut Cha-o-cha government had called for the return of 705 looted artefacts from museums in the US and Australia.

Thailand calls for returns of 18 Buddha statues and sculptures in the collections of such top institutions as New York’s Metropolitan Art Museum and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, as well as the Asian Art Museum [Credit: Thai. Culture Ministry]

Fine Art Department director Ananda Chuchoti said the pieces are expected to be coming home include two 11th-century stone lintels, one from Prasat Nong Hong in |Buri Ram and the other from Prasat Khao Lon in Sa Kaew.

They are currently in the permanent collection of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. Also anticipated are 18 Buddha statues and sculptures in the collections of such top institutions as New York’s Metropolitan Art Museum and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, as well as the Asian Art Museum.

“These masterpieces include an 8th-century bronze statue of the preaching Buddha called Avalokitesvara, taken from Prasat Hin Khao Bat II in Buri Ram,” archaeologist Tanongsak Hanwong, a member of the ad hoc ministry committee, told The Nation. “It is currently with the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York.”

Thailand calls for retruns of two 11th-century stone lintels, one from Prasat Nong Hong in Buri Ram, right, and the other from Prasat Khao Lon in Sa Kaew. They are currently in the permanent collection of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco [Credit: Thai. Culture Ministry]

Four other stone architectural artefacts taken from Buri Ram’s Prasart Panomrung and Nakhon Ratchasima’s Prasat Hin Pimai are also expected to return.

“More importantly,” said Tanongsak, “the government also determined that a 13-century Buddha statue now at London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies is Thai art and is in the process of calling for its return.”

Ananda said the government was able to provide photographic and other verification of several artefacts’ origin to the US Department of Homeland Security as requested.

Thailand is calling for return of from UK's SOAS of  the 13th-century Lopburi Buddha torso [Credit: Angela Chiu]

American collector Lisette Christiansen and Thai physician Santi Viboonmongkol, who both keep collections in the US, intend to return 38 prehistoric artefacts, including Baan Chiang pottery, to the government.

Source: The Nation [November 07, 2018]

Land-based bird populations are at risk of local extinction

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on September 21, 2018 / comment : 0 Bali, Biodiversity, Borneo, Endangered Species, Java, Natural Heritage, South East Asia, Sumatra, Thailand, Wildlife

Land-based bird populations are becoming confined to nature reserves in some parts of the world -- raising the risk of global extinction -- due to the loss of suitable habitat, according to a report led by UCL.

Credit: University College London

Researchers analysed biodiversity in the area known as Sundaland, which covers the peninsula of Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali, one of the world's most biologically degraded regions.

The study, published in Conservation Letters, focuses on galliformes -- heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds such as pheasants, grouse and quail -- as their numbers are well-recorded and they are amongst the most threatened species in some parts of the world.

Scientists found that up to 13 populations (25 per cent of galliform populations in the area) have been extirpated (made locally extinct) in the region and no longer exist outside nature reserves (protected areas). The island of Sumatra has suffered the highest proportion of extirpations among the areas studied, having lost 50 percent of its galliform species in unprotected land.

As a result, certain species are only found in protected areas -- raising questions about the ultimate goal of conservation. The researchers argue that these areas were never intended to be a last resort for the existence of species and are also coming under increasing threat from human activity.

Professor Elizabeth Boakes (UCL Life Sciences) said: "Land outside of protected areas is increasingly being lost to agriculture and infrastructure, leading to species becoming confined to Sundaland's protected areas. Biodiversity in the unprotected landscape is required to maintain connectivity and ecosystem function.

"It is also critical that protected areas are managed effectively. However, nearly 20 per cent of Malaysia's and over 40 per cent of Indonesia's protected land is subject to intense human pressure.

"As one of the most biologically degraded areas, Sundaland offers a stark warning to the rest of the world should global rates of land conversion continue unabated. Conservation's end goal is not islands of biodiversity, marooned in a sea of destruction. More land must be managed in a way that accommodates biodiversity for the long term."

Sundaland is a biological hotspot, meaning it is rich in biodiversity but at risk of destruction. Despite the existence of protected areas, forest cover in Sumatra declined by five per cent between 1990 and 2000, while Kalimantan's protected lowland forests declined by more than 56 per cent between 1985 and 2001.

In addition to this, protected areas are not necessarily permanent, with downgrading over the last few years equating to a loss of 8360km² of protected land. As they become more isolated in agricultural landscapes or by the spread of roads and other infrastructure, species lose the opportunity to track and adapt to climate change.

An example of this is that just 12 per cent of Borneo's protected areas are topographically diverse enough to allow species to survive a high warming scenario.

Dr Philip McGowan, Newcastle University School of Natural and Environmental Sciences and Chair of IUCN Species Survival Commission Task Force on post 2020 biodiversity targets said: "These findings present new insights into how we should view protected areas and their ability to conserve species across landscapes.

"At a time when there is debate about how much land should be given over to protected areas, it is how they are integrated into global biodiversity targets that is perhaps critical. These targets are currently being reviewed by the Convention on Biological Diversity, which is also discussing what should follow them when they expire in 2020."

Southeast Asia's deforestation rate is the highest among tropical regions, above five per cent annually in parts of Sumatra and Sarawak. Sundaland's lowland forests are rapidly disappearing, giving us an insight into the future global conservation status of the remainder of the world if land outside of protected areas continues to be lost, putting the reserves at increased risk from climate change and human activity.

Source: University College London [September 21, 2018]

Scientists analyze first ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on May 17, 2018 / comment : 0 Anthropology, Asia, Cambodia, Genetics, Myanmar, South East Asia, Thailand, Vietnam

The first whole-genome analyses of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia reveal that there were at least three major waves of human migration into the region over the last 50,000 years.

Field workers excavate ancient human remains at Man Bac, Vietnam, in 2007. DNA from skeletons at this site was included in the current study [Credit: Lorna Tilley, Australian National University]

The research, published in Science, complements what is known from archaeological, historical and linguistic studies of Southeast Asia, defined as the area east of India and south of China.

The work illuminates another critical portion of the story of ancient population dynamics around the world, joining numerous ancient-DNA studies of Europe as well as burgeoning research from the Near East, Central Asia, Pacific Islands and Africa.

"A very important part of the world is now accessible for ancient DNA analysis," said Mark Lipson, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of ancient-DNA specialist David Reich at Harvard Medical School and first author of the study. "It opens a window into the genetic origins of the people who lived there in the past and those who live there now."

An international team led by researchers at HMS and the University of Vienna extracted and analyzed DNA from the remains of 18 people who lived between about 4,100 and 1,700 years ago in what are now Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The team found that the first migration took place about 45,000 years ago, bringing in people who became hunter-gatherers.

Then, during the Neolithic Period, around 4,500 years ago, there was a large-scale influx of people from China who introduced farming practices to Southeast Asia and mixed with the local hunter-gatherers.

People today with this ancestry mix tend to speak Austroasiatic languages, leading the researchers to propose that the farmers who came from the north were early Austroasiatic speakers.

"This study reveals a complex interplay between archaeology, genetics and language, which is critical for understanding the history of Southeast Asian populations," said co-senior author Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna.

The research revealed that subsequent waves of migration during the Bronze Age, again from China, arrived in Myanmar by about 3,000 years ago, in Vietnam by 2,000 years ago and in Thailand within the last 1,000 years. These movements introduced ancestry types that are today associated with speakers of different languages.

The identification of three ancestral populations -- hunter-gatherers, first farmers and Bronze Age migrants -- echoes a pattern first uncovered in ancient DNA studies of Europeans, but with at least one major difference: Much of the ancestral diversity in Europe has faded over time as populations mingled, while Southeast Asian populations have retained far more variation.

"People who are nearly direct descendants of each of the three source populations are still living in the region today, including people with significant hunter-gatherer ancestry who live in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Andaman Islands," said Reich, professor of genetics at HMS and co-senior author of the study. "Whereas in Europe, no one living today has more than a small fraction of ancestry from the European hunter-gatherers."

Reich hypothesizes that the high diversity of Southeast Asia today can be partly explained by the fact that farmers arrived much more recently than in Europe -- around 4,500 years ago compared with 8,000 years ago -- leaving less time for populations to mix and genetic variation to even out.

The new findings make it clear that the multiple waves of migration, each of which occurred during a key transition period of Southeast Asian history, shaped the genetics of the region to a remarkable extent.

"The major population turnover that came with the arrival of farmers is unsurprising, but the magnitudes of replacement during the Bronze Age are much higher than many people would have guessed," said Reich.

Also unexpected were the linguistic implications raised by analyses of the ancestry of people in western Indonesia.

"The evidence suggests that the first farmers of western Indonesia spoke Austroasiatic languages rather than the Austronesian languages spoken there today," Reich added. "Thus, Austronesian languages were probably later arrivals."

Additional samples from western Indonesia before and after 4,000 years ago should settle the question, Reich said.

Source: Harvard Medical School [May 17, 2018]