The Discovery
In Zimbabwe's Matusadona National Park, researchers identified a previously unknown dinosaur named Musango matusadonaensis, which lived around 210 million years ago during the Late Triassic. Reports of fossilized bones in the country date back to 1916, followed by major finds in the 1970s by Geoffrey Bond and Michael Raath. Scientific interest was renewed when safari camp manager Steve Edwards spotted productive fossil sites along the shores of Lake Kariba. Dinosaur specialist Jonah Choiniere assembled an international team to investigate the sites, conducting expeditions in 2017 and 2018 using a houseboat as their research base.
What Scientists Found
The team excavated specimens from reddish mudstones and sandstones deposited by ancient rivers. Analysis of the incomplete skeleton revealed that Musango matusadonaensis was a two-legged sauropodomorph measuring roughly 4.5 meters (15 feet) long and weighing about 220 kilograms (485 pounds). Growth marks inside its bones indicate the animal was not yet a full adult when it died. Specific features of the discovery include:
- The skull was not preserved, leaving its exact diet unconfirmed, though close relatives were plant-eaters.
- The surrounding ecosystem was fairly dry, featuring scattered conifer trees alongside permanent rivers lined with vegetation.
- The fossil beds also preserved remains of ancient lungfish and phytosaurs, which were crocodile-like aquatic reptiles.
Why It Matters
Scientists originally expected fossils from Zimbabwe to match those from neighboring South Africa due to their close proximity and similar rock ages. However, the identification of Musango matusadonaensis alongside another sauropodomorph described in 2024, Musankwa sanyatiensis, proves that Zimbabwe had its own distinct dinosaur community. Researchers hypothesize that climate differences explain this variation, as Zimbabwe was situated closer to the equator during the Triassic period. Paleontologists are now re-evaluating older fossil collections stored in Bulawayo and planning future trips to Lake Kariba to better understand early dinosaur evolution across southern Africa.
Source: dinosaur fossil discovery - BingNews · Published October 20, 2026 · Photo by Smithsonian on Unsplash