an illustration of Mbiresaurus

Fabulous 230-million-year-old fossil is Africa’s oldest known dinosaur

Found in what is now Zimbabwe, the relatively small sauropod ancestor is helping reveal how dinosaurs first spread across ancient Earth.

In a braided river system in what's now northern Zimbabwe 230 million years ago, a distant ancestral cousin of the giant long-necked sauropod dinosaurs roamed. Bones of this dinosaur, called Mbiresaurus raathi, have been unveiled as the oldest definitive dinosaur fossils in Africa.
Illustration by Andrey Atuchin
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