Researchers have discovered a new 210-million-year-old dinosaur species named Musango matusadonaensis in northern Zimbabwe. Described in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, the four-and-a-half-meter-long sauropodomorph was excavated near Lake Kariba and marks the fifth dinosaur species formally identified in the country.
Lake Kariba Excavations Reveal Musango Matusadonaensis
An international team of paleontologists has identified a new dinosaur species in Zimbabwe dating back about 210 million years to the Late Triassic period. Excavated along the shores of Lake Kariba in northern Zimbabwe, the partial skeleton represents the fifth dinosaur species ever formally identified in the country, adding crucial detail to a region with a relatively unknown palaeontological past.
The remains were recovered during expeditions in 2017 and 2018 conducted by a team of Zimbabwean, South African, and British scientists. Rather than hiking into the wilderness or driving in a jeep, the team conducted their expeditions from a boat. As Paul Barrett noted, It’s one of the most exciting digs I’ve been on. Being on a boat kept us mobile as we searched the area, but also kept us safe from the elephants, crocodiles and hippos that live nearby!
The specimen was initially spotted jutting out from rocks just a few meters above the water before the team returned to excavate the surrounding area. The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe stated that the fossil is among the most complete skeletons of its age found in Zimbabwe, preserving parts of the spine, ribs, arms, legs, and feet. The finds were prepared at the Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) in Johannesburg, where they were studied by the team before being returned to the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe.
Anatomy, Age, and the Meaning Behind the Name
Named Musango matusadonaensis, the dinosaur honors the local Musango Concession Area and adjacent Matusadona National Park. The word Musango is a local Shona or ChiShona word meaning living in the bush,
referencing the remote area where the fossils were found.
While field observations during the excavation initially led researchers to identify the animal as a nondinosaurian archosaur, preparation and further study revealed that it was a sauropodomorph dinosaur. Dating back about 210 million years to the Late Triassic period—an important time when dinosaurs were beginning to spread around the planet as they moved toward becoming Earth’s dominant animals—Musango measured roughly 4.5 meters in length and walked on two legs. It served as an early relative of later giant long-necked dinosaurs such as Diplodocus.
Bone analysis indicates the type specimen was nearly fully grown at about eight years of age when it died, having previously survived a serious injury or infection earlier in its life. As noted in the published paper, Osteohistology reveals that the type specimen was either a late sub-adult or adult, with a mass of around 220 kg.
The omnivore fed on plants and meat, including crocodile-like phytosaurs, lungfish, and smaller dinosaurs.
Challenging Assumptions About Ancient Gondwana Ecosystems
The discovery of Musango matusadonaensis—found in the same rocks as the larger Musankwa sanyatiensis—shows that ecosystems capable of supporting a variety of dinosaurs existed around 210 million years ago. Paul Barrett, a merit researcher at the Natural History Museum in London and lead author of the study, stated that further discoveries from the region are likely to transform our understanding of this crucial time.
Until recently, it was assumed that the dinosaurs living across southern Africa were largely the same,
Barrett explained. However, these discoveries are showing that this part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana was actually made of a series of smaller ecosystems – each with a different cast of characters.
Barrett added, “It suggests that what we’ve found so far is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ve already got one other new species that we’ve yet to describe, while our team has been told about other fossils from the region that we’re yet to look at. I think it’s likely there are even more dinosaurs still to be found there.”
Professor Jonah Choiniere from Johannesburg’s Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) noted that the project is the result of a thriving international collaboration between the UK, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Choiniere added that the discovery reinforces the importance of southern Africa in understanding dinosaur diversity,
demonstrating the value of conducting paleontological fieldwork in remote and scenic locations.
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