Researchers at the Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University’s Northeastern Research Institute of Petrified Wood and Mineral Resources confirmed the find yesterday.

The Khoratichthus gibbus fossil, which is 36cm long, 12cm wide and 8cm thick, dates back to the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous period and has an outstanding characteristic of a large protuberance above its neck.

Institute director Prathueng Jintasakul said the cracked stone carrying the fossil was first seen by local resident Viroj Pinpok near a waterfall in Ban None Sao-ae in Tambon Wang Mee of Wang Nam Khieo district in 1997.

It was left without study until Prathueng, Thai researcher Uthumporn Deesri and Switzerland fossil ichthyologist Lionel Cavin examined it in 2014 and published its discovery in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology late last year.