Scientists have unearthed remains of Africa's oldest dinosaur in Zimbabwe which lived about 230 million years ago.
The dinosaur has been named Mbiresaurus raathi after the Mbire district — in northeastern Zimbabwe — where the skeleton was found.
The Mbiresaurus raathi was at least one metre tall, ran on two legs, weighed about 30kg, had a small head and a long neck.
The nearly complete skeleton was found during two expeditions in 2017 and 2019 by a team of scientists from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Brazil and the US.
The Paleobiology and Geobiology Research Group at Virginia Tech announced the find this week.
“We introduce Mbiresaurus raathi, an early sauropodomorph from Zimbabwe. This concept helps to explain why dinosaurian faunas (like Tawa) are different in the southern continents when compared to North America faunas.”
The skeleton of the Mbiresaurus raathi is currently stored at the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
Darlington Munyikwa, chief paleontologist and deputy director of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, told TimesLIVE the fossil is rare and shows potential for Zimbabwe to unearth more discoveries.
“We are excited about the discovery. It's a nearly complete skeleton which we found and it's very rare to find a fossil as complete as it.
“This specimen is really significant to Zimbabwe because is the third new species we have recovered in this country.”
Munyikwa said the latest find is the oldest ever dinosaur found in Africa.
TimesLIVE
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Africa's oldest dinosaur unearthed in Zimbabwe
Image: Andrey Atuchin/Virginia Tech
Scientists have unearthed remains of Africa's oldest dinosaur in Zimbabwe which lived about 230 million years ago.
The dinosaur has been named Mbiresaurus raathi after the Mbire district — in northeastern Zimbabwe — where the skeleton was found.
The Mbiresaurus raathi was at least one metre tall, ran on two legs, weighed about 30kg, had a small head and a long neck.
The nearly complete skeleton was found during two expeditions in 2017 and 2019 by a team of scientists from Zimbabwe, Zambia, Brazil and the US.
The Paleobiology and Geobiology Research Group at Virginia Tech announced the find this week.
“We introduce Mbiresaurus raathi, an early sauropodomorph from Zimbabwe. This concept helps to explain why dinosaurian faunas (like Tawa) are different in the southern continents when compared to North America faunas.”
The skeleton of the Mbiresaurus raathi is currently stored at the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.
Darlington Munyikwa, chief paleontologist and deputy director of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, told TimesLIVE the fossil is rare and shows potential for Zimbabwe to unearth more discoveries.
“We are excited about the discovery. It's a nearly complete skeleton which we found and it's very rare to find a fossil as complete as it.
“This specimen is really significant to Zimbabwe because is the third new species we have recovered in this country.”
Munyikwa said the latest find is the oldest ever dinosaur found in Africa.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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