On the 29th, scientists announced the discovery of a new dinosaur species in Zimbabwe, which not only provides new clues about dinosaur evolutionary diversity but also suggests they may have once inhabited different ecosystems in southern Africa.
This new species has been named Musango matusadonaensis. Its skeletal fossils were unearthed in 2018 on the shores of Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe, making it the fifth dinosaur species ever discovered in Zimbabwe.
The international team of paleontologists involved in the discovery indicated that Musango lived about 210 million years ago during the late Triassic period, a time when dinosaurs were just beginning to spread across the globe but had not yet become the dominant land animals.
Unlike the gigantic long-necked dinosaurs that evolved millions of years later, Musango was relatively light and agile, with a body length of about 4.5 meters and an estimated weight of around 222 kilograms—about as heavy as an adult pig.
The name Musango comes from the local Shona language and means “one who lives in the bush.”
Paul Barrett, a researcher at London’s Natural History Museum, said: “Until recently, we still believed that dinosaurs living in southern Africa were largely the same.”
He added: “This discovery shows that the region may actually have been composed of a number of different ecosystems, each inhabited by different dinosaur species.”
The research results from Barrett’s team have been published in the British academic journal Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Researchers estimate that Musango was about 8 years old at death and nearly fully grown. Its bones also show that it had recovered from a serious injury or infection.
Although Musango's skull has not yet been found, researchers believe it was likely a herbivore or an omnivore, feeding on plants growing along rivers and streams.