Scientists Describe New Dinosaur Species Found on Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba Shore | Ukraine news

Reaching the fossils required boats, dangerous wildlife and eight years of painstaking work, yet researchers believe Zimbabwe’s discoveries are only beginning.

In Zimbabwe, scientists have described a new dinosaur species, Musango matusadonaensis. Its fossil remains were found on the shores of Lake Kariba, and the discovery may turn out to be just a small part of future paleontological breakthroughs in Africa.

Based on data from CNN

An international expedition explored the hard-to-reach region. In some areas, scientists had to travel by boat, navigating around hippos and Nile crocodiles, while on land they had to watch out for elephants and lions.

The first dinosaur bones were discovered back in 2018. After eight years of excavation, preparation, and analysis of the fossil material, the researchers were able to officially describe the new species in a scientific paper published in July.

Features of Zimbabwe’s new dinosaur

Musango matusadonaensis lived approximately 210 million years ago, during the Late Triassic. It belonged to the sauropodomorphs, an early group of dinosaurs that included the ancestors of famous long-necked giants such as Diplodocus. Unlike its later relatives, this animal moved on two legs.

The nearly mature dinosaur was about 4.5 meters long and weighed an estimated 222 kilograms. Paleontologists estimate that it was approximately eight years old when it died.

The animal probably fed on plants near bodies of water, although scientists cannot completely rule out omnivory. The dinosaur’s skull was not preserved, so its exact diet and sensory capabilities remain unknown.

Perhaps only one in a hundred specimens that are found has a skeleton preserved in anatomical position. And among those specimens, a skull is present in roughly one out of ten. So a significant part of our work involves drawing conclusions based on hundreds of years of fossil collecting.

– Jonah Choiniere, professor of comparative biology at the University of the Witwatersrand

Why Africa may yield even more dinosaurs

The genus name Musango means “to live in the bush” in the Shona language. The species name matusadonaensis was linked to Matusadona National Park, near which a safari camp is located. Its owner, Steve Edwards, was the first to draw the researchers’ attention to possible fossil remains and supported the expedition during its fieldwork.

This is the team’s second major discovery in the Lake Kariba region. During expeditions in 2017–2018, scientists discovered a closely related species, Musankwa sanyatiensis, which was described in 2024. Both dinosaurs may have lived alongside lungfish and phytosaurs – ancient aquatic reptiles that resembled modern crocodiles in appearance.

Southern Africa has extensive sedimentary basins where layers of ancient mud and sand help preserve bones. Studying them could help researchers better understand ecosystem changes at the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods – a time when dinosaurs gradually became the dominant land animals.

The more we study this region, the more convinced we become that its dinosaurs differ from those found in other parts of southern Africa. The potential of these areas is far from exhausted.

– Paul Barrett, head of the fossil vertebrates department at the Natural History Museum

Musango matusadonaensis is only the fifth dinosaur to be officially described from Zimbabwe. Scientists cite the remoteness of excavation sites, logistical challenges, and the consequences of the war of independence, which lasted from 1964 to 1979, among the reasons the country has remained understudied.

The next expedition to Lake Kariba is planned for early 2027. Researchers hope that new fieldwork will help fill gaps on the paleontological map of southern Africa and launch more systematic research into fossil remains in Zimbabwe.

I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

– Jonah Choiniere