A new species of dinosaur, “Mbiresaurus raathi”, discovered in Zimbabwe, turns out to be the oldest dinosaur found in Africa to date, according to the research team responsible for the discovery.
The dinosaur, known by its scientific name “Mbiresaurus raathi,” was found in excavations that began in 2017 during an expedition to the remote northern Mbire district of the Zambezi Valley in the African country, the team said in a statement sent to Eph.
The new species name incorporates the word Mbire, the district where the animal’s remains were discovered, and pays tribute to paleontologist Michael Raath, who first published fossil studies of the area.
These are definitely the oldest known dinosaurs in Africa, roughly equivalent in age to the oldest dinosaurs found anywhere in the world.”
The dinosaur, whose skeleton is almost 90% intact, is a kind of sauropodomorph, which stood on two legs, was between one and 1.5 meters tall, had a long neck and a small head.
“Only some of the main bones of the hand and parts of the skull are missing,” the researchers explained.
The dinosaur lived during the Late Triassic, about 230 million years ago.
At that time, all the continents merged into a single supercontinent, Pangaea, which then began to break up into landmasses separated by oceans.
Zimbabwe was then on the same parallel as northern Argentina, southern Brazil and India, the scientists noted.
Along with the new dinosaur skeleton, the research team discovered other fossils, including ancient reptiles known as rhinosaurs and the earliest ancestors of mammals and crocodilians, known as cynodonts and ethosaurs, respectively.
The set of remains is very similar to fossils from the same period discovered in deposits in Argentina, Brazil and India.
The research team, whose results have been published in the scientific journal Nature, hopes to discover more fossils in the Mbire district.
A considerable number of fossil beds have been discovered and further exploration will be carried out,” the scientists stressed.
Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, a paleontologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa who was not part of the study, called the dinosaur discovery good news for Africa.
“Africa still has many more dinosaurs, which will be discovered as more paleontologists start looking for them,” he told Efe.
The Mbire district occupies an area where the Australian company Invictus is carrying out major oil and gas exploration.
Chinsamy-Turan explained that mining activities can sometimes help uncover new fossil deposits, but he hopes precautions have been taken to protect the area’s prehistoric riches.
“I sincerely hope that paleontological and environmental impact assessments have been carried out, and that firm agreements are in place to ensure that the ecology is protected and that any fossils discovered are duly excavated and taken to a museum for safety and study,” he added. the paleontologist.
Source: Observadora
