In 1936 while researching the geological map of lower Laos, French geologist Josué Heilman Hoffet discovered deposits of fossilised bones in the region of Ban Tangvai, 120 kilometres east of Savannakhet, including a large femur and a small spinal vertebra of a dinosaur. Before his untimely death at the hands of Japanese soldiers in World War II Hoffet collected a number of other bones in the area, evidence of the existence in prehistoric Laos of bipedal and quadropedal herbivores, freshwater molluscs, crocodiles and tortoises. However, no further research was undertaken on this important find until 1990, when a joint Lao-French palaeontological team not only rediscovered Hoffet’s deposits, but also uncovered substantial new dinosaur remains in the area. Further joint field research in 1991 and 1992 revealed the well-preserved remains of sauropods, theropods and ornithopods. Opened in 2000 within the Provincial Science, Technology and Environment Office headquarters, this museum displays many of the most important finds.