happiness Chikwanha
Sifelani Tsiko
Innovations Editor
A 210 million-year-old dinosaur fossil uncovered by scientists along the shoreline of Spurwing Island at Lake Kariba has sparked global interest.
“It is a very significant discovery for the scientific community and the nation as a whole. It’s significant in the sense that we are shedding more light on the evolution of life – particularly reptiles and dinosaurs during their evolutionary stage of life,” said Mr Darlington Munyikwa, acting executive director of the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.
“This is the fourth important discovery of dinosaurs in Zimbabwe. It puts us on the world map in terms of the evolution of dinosaurs.
“It’s a wonderful discovery for the country and it’s a treasure to our heritage,” said Mr Munyikwa.
All the four dinosaur fossils are now kept at the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city.
A team of scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, the Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe and Stony Brook University in New York conducted the study, thereby leading to the unearthing of Musankwa sanyatiensis.
Professor Paul Barrett from the Natural History Museum in London was the lead researcher.
Musankwa sanyatiensis is now the fourth dinosaur to be named from Zimbabwe, following the descriptions of “Syntarsus” rhodesiensis in 1969, Vulcanodon karibaensis in 1972, and, most recently, Mbiresaurus raathi in 2022.
Prof Barrett was quoted saying Zimbabwe could be a potential gold mine for researchers looking to investigate the diversification of the dinosaurs.
“This species is pretty old, dating back to the Late Triassic when the dinosaurs were getting larger and starting to dominate ecosystems,” he said. “This is the time when they began to become more diverse and spread around the world, making it an important era to investigate.”
Prof Barrett added: “Over the last six years, many new fossil sites have been recorded in Zimbabwe, yielding a diverse array of pre-historic animals, including the first sub-Saharan mainland African phytosaurs (ancient crocodile-like reptiles), metoposaurid amphibians (giant armored amphibians), lungfish, and other reptile remains.”
Professor Munyaradzi Manyanga, the Bantu Mosaics Research Associate and Executive Dean of the School of Heritage and Education at Great Zimbabwe University said, “Congratulations to the researchers and their institutions for the ground-breaking scientific discovery!
‘The discovery of Masankwa santatiensis is yet another revelation of Zimbabwe’s rich paleontological, geological and archaeological heritage.
“This discovery is coming shortly after the discovery of Africa’s oldest dinosaur fossil, Mbiresaurus raathi which was discovered in the Mbire District of Mashonaland Central in 2019. These exceptional discoveries illuminate the past and the present and informs our future, contributing significantly to modern societies’ scientific, cultural and environmental understanding,” he said.
Dr Kimi Chapelle, a researcher from Stony Brook University said in a report: “African dinosaur fossils are under-represented as a result of under sampling, compared to other areas of the world.
“As a result, Musankwa sanyantiensis is the first dinosaur of its kind from Zimbabwe, and just the fourth dinosaur species ever found in the whole country.
“It highlights just how much potential the region has for further palaeontological discoveries.”
Researchers say an evolutionary analysis reveals that Musankwa sanyatiensis was a member of the Sauropodomorpha, a group of bipedal, long-necked dinosaurs that were widespread during the Late Triassic.
They say as more fossil sites are explored and excavated, there is hope for uncovering further significant finds that will shed light on the early evolution of dinosaurs and the ecosystems they inhabited.
Online Reporter