Scientists discover 210-million-year-old dinosaur in Zimbabwe - Phys.org

What the report says

Phys.Org, citing AFP and a peer-reviewed paper, reported that paleontologists have identified a new dinosaur species from Zimbabwe, named Musango matusadonaensis. The animal is described from a skeleton excavated in 2018 along Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe and is now the fifth dinosaur species recognized from the country. The findings were published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.

Researchers date Musango to about 210 million years ago, in the Late Triassic, a period when dinosaurs were expanding geographically but had not yet become the dominant animals on land. The team estimated that the dinosaur was roughly 4.5 meters long and weighed about 222 kilograms. Unlike the much larger long-necked dinosaurs that appeared later, it was relatively lightly built. The name draws from the Shona word “musango,” associated with living in the bush.

The fossil is reported to be one of Zimbabwe’s most complete dinosaur skeletons from this age, preserving parts of the spine, ribs, limbs and feet, though no skull has been found. Scientists estimated the individual was about eight years old and close to maturity when it died. Bone evidence also indicated it had survived a major injury or infection. Based on related animals, researchers think it was likely herbivorous or omnivorous.

The discovery matters because it challenges an earlier view that southern Africa’s Triassic dinosaurs were broadly similar across the region. Paul Barrett of London’s Natural History Museum said the find supports the idea that several distinct ecosystems existed, each with different dinosaur communities. Phys.Org also noted Zimbabwe’s 2022 discovery of Mbiresaurus raathi, reported as Africa’s oldest known dinosaur at about 230 million years old.