Vertebrate fossil from Gua Naga Mas, Ipoh

A large vertebrate fossil in Gua Naga Mas exposed on the ceiling of the limestone cave (Kinta Limestone).

Gua Naga Mas is an abandoned cave temple that features the fossilized bones of an ancient animal possibly from the Pleistocene period. The fossilized bones, the only to be found in Peninsula Malaysia so far, and are thought to date back sometime between 1.8 million to 10,000 years ago. The fossil is almost complete, about 1m long, probably a small tiger, a bear or wild dog. It was first discovery in 1992 by members of the Malaysian Nature Society of Perak. This cave had been designated as protected site by the Museum and Antiquity Deparment, Malaysia.