A 70-metre long petrified tree trunk discovered in Thailand has been recorded by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest fossilised tree trunk in the world.
The announcement ceremony of the registration by the Guinness Book of Records took place on Friday 8 July 2022.
The trunk was discovered in Doi Soi Malai National Park, Ban Tak District, Tak Province, in 2003.
At the time, it was 72.22 metres long, equivalent to the height of a 20-storey building, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
But later the excavation site was flooded, which damaged the end and reduced its length to 69.7 metres.
The fossilised trunk, from a tree Koompassia malaccensis Maingay ex Benth, which no longer grows in northern Thailand, but is still found in the tropical forests of southern Thailand and the Malay Peninsula.
The petrified trunk, which is about 120,000 years old, indicates that Tak Province was once full of ancient forests, an important natural heritage.
The Petrified Forest Park has been named "Tak Petrified Wood Geopark" and is an important tourist destination in the province.
Seven other petrified trunks have been found, but they are comparatively shorter.
Source: Bangkok Post, Thai PBS World
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