New dinosaur discovered in Zimbabwe

What the report says

BBC Africa reports that scientists have identified a new dinosaur species in Zimbabwe, a find researchers say adds to understanding of dinosaur diversity in southern Africa. The animal has been named Musango matusadonaensis and was found on the shore of Lake Kariba. According to the report, it is only the fifth dinosaur species to be formally named from Zimbabwe.

The dinosaur lived about 210 million years ago in the Late Triassic, a period when dinosaurs were spreading globally before later becoming dominant in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Musango was described as a sauropodomorph, an early relative of long-necked dinosaurs such as Diplodocus, though it moved on two legs. Fossils studied include parts of the spine, arms and feet.

Researchers involved in the UK, South Africa and Zimbabwe collaboration estimate the animal was nearly adult when it died, around eight years old and roughly 4.5 metres long. BBC Africa reported that the study authors believe it was likely omnivorous, feeding on both plant and animal matter, potentially including smaller dinosaurs, lungfish and crocodile-like phytosaurs.

The study was published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, with Professor Paul Barrett of London’s Natural History Museum named as lead author. The wider significance, as reported, is that African fossil sites have historically received less attention than those in Europe and North America. The discovery supports the view that southern Gondwana contained multiple distinct ecosystems rather than a uniform dinosaur fauna across the region.