Ajnabia
"stranger"
Type species Ajnabia odysseus
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ornithopods, Hadrosauridae
- Found in
- Morocco
- Named by
- Longrich et al. 2021
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on land beside the sea in what is now Morocco; its jaws were buried in marine phosphate deposits. Other dinosaurs from these rocks include Chenanisaurus, Minqaria and Taleta.
Field notes
About Ajnabia
What it was like
Ajnabia was a small duck-billed dinosaur from the branch of hadrosaurs that usually carried crests. It is known from part of its jaws and teeth.
It was related to hadrosaurs from Europe, and scientists think its ancestors must have crossed a stretch of sea to reach Africa, perhaps by swimming or floating from island to island.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, at the very end of the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Morocco. Its bones come from marine phosphate rocks, where the body of a land animal had washed out to sea. The same rocks have produced the abelisaur Chenanisaurus and the titanosaur Phosphatotitan.
How it was found
Longrich and colleagues named Ajnabia odysseus in 2021. It was the first hadrosaur known for sure from Africa, which is why it was named "stranger," and its species name recalls a famous sea voyager of Greek legend.
Field gallery
More views of Ajnabia
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Ajnabia.
The evidence
The science behind Ajnabia
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Parts of the upper and lower jaws preserve tightly packed rows of teeth.
- The upper teeth have tips that curl inward and a main ridge set off-center.
- The jaw bones are small compared with those of most duck-billed dinosaurs.
Borrowed from relatives
- The limbs, torso and tail are restored from better-known duck-billed dinosaurs such as Corythosaurus and Lambeosaurus.
- European relatives such as Canardia help explain the shape of its jaws.
Still unknown
- The shape of its head crest.
- Its skin color and markings.
- Whether its ancestors crossed the sea by swimming, drifting or rafting.
Discovery timeline
- 2021Named itLongrich et al.
- 2024Close relativeLongrich et al.
- 2025Close relativeLongrich et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Ajnabia
Named it
Described the first definite African duck-billed dinosaur and proposed that its ancestors reached Africa by crossing the sea.
The first duckbill dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Africa and the role of oceanic dispersal in dinosaur biogeography. Cretaceous Research 120: 104678
Read the paper : The first duckbill dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Africa and the role of oceanic dispersal in dinosaur biogeography (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Named Minqaria and found that small and larger duck-billed dinosaurs shared the rocks containing Ajnabia.
A new small duckbilled dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Morocco and dinosaur diversity in the late Maastrichtian of North Africa. Scientific Reports 14
Read the paper : A new small duckbilled dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Morocco and dinosaur diversity in the late Maastrichtian of North Africa (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Named Taleta, whose larger teeth and different jaw shape suggest feeding habits distinct from those of Ajnabia and Minqaria.
A new hadrosaurid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco provides evidence for an African radiation of lambeosaurines. Gondwana Research 145: 142-151
Read the paper : A new hadrosaurid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian Phosphates of Morocco provides evidence for an African radiation of lambeosaurines (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Hadrosauridae
Sources: Wikidata