Scientists recently unveiled a new dinosaur species named ‘Musango,’ discovered along the shore of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe. Though the fossils were unearthed in 2018, the findings were only published in July. Musango, which stands about 5 feet tall at the hip, is part of the evolutionary lineage that led to larger long-necked dinosaurs like the brontosaurus. This discovery is significant as Zimbabwe has an underexplored paleontological history.
The research indicates Musango lived over 200 million years ago and may be related to fossils found in Argentina and South Africa. Professor Paul Barrett, the study’s lead author, emphasizes that this finding challenges the belief that dinosaurs across southern Africa were uniform, suggesting instead a diversity of ecosystems within the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. This highlights the ability of these creatures to traverse considerable distances when Africa and the Americas were once connected.
For more details, read about the discovery here.
