Sinsaengdae Duhocheung Goraehwaseok, Pohang

Basic information

Designation

Natural Monument No.586

Category

자연지형

Designated year

2025

Location

서구, 대전광역시— 대전광역시 서구 유등로 927(만년동, 천연기념물센터)

Coordinates

36.367833, 127.392506Kakao address conversion

This English description was machine-translated and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the original Korean text for details.

This is a whale fossil discovered in the Duho Formation of the Neogene (Tertiary period of the Cenozoic Era), representing a highly exceptional case in Korea of a complete single individual being preserved within sedimentary rock. The whale fossil was discovered and excavated in September 2008 at the Jangryang development district in Pohang, and is currently stored in the Natural Monument Center's repository. It is not only the largest specimen among whale fossils found in the Cenozoic Era but also the first publicly presented baleen whale (Mysticetes) fossil in Korea, possessing high value for designation as a natural monument. The concretions surrounding the whale fossil bones can serve as indicators of Pohang's paleoenvironment at that time and have value in showing what events occurred during the fossilization process (taphonomy) after the whale's death.

Location