Researchers have identified a previously unknown dinosaur species, Musango matusadonaensis, from fossils unearthed near Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe, shedding new light on the evolution of early dinosaurs in southern Africa. Dating back about 210 million years to the Late Triassic period, the newly described species is an early sauropodomorph—a distant ancestor of giant long-necked dinosaurs that emerged later. The fossil, excavated in 2018 and formally described in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, is only the fifth dinosaur species ever formally identified in Zimbabwe and among the most complete skeletons of its age found there. Scientists say the discovery suggests southern Africa hosted several distinct prehistoric ecosystems and indicates many more dinosaur species remain undiscovered across the continent.
Anadolu Ajansi