New 210-million-year-old dinosaur discovered in Zimbabwe
Palaeontologists have identified a new dinosaur species, Musango matusadonaensis, discovered in Zimbabwe and dating back 210 million years. The find suggests that southern Africa hosted a more diverse range of prehistoric ecosystems than previously understood.
Why it matters
This discovery provides significant new data for evolutionary biology and reshapes the scientific understanding of Triassic-era biodiversity in Africa.
Zimbabwe has added another remarkable chapter to Africa’s prehistoric story with the discovery of a new dinosaur species that roamed the region around 210 million years ago.
Image used for illustrative purposes/ Christopher Amrich /Wikimedia Commons
According to Algoa News , the newly identified dinosaur, Musango matusadonaensis , was unearthed from fossil remains excavated near the shores of Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe in 2018. The discovery has now been formally described by an international team of palaeontologists in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology .
The dinosaur lived during the Late Triassic period, a time when dinosaurs were beginning to spread across the globe but had not yet become Earth’s dominant land animals.
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