Outline: a typical early sauropodomorph
Mbiresaurus
"Mbire lizard"
Type species Mbiresaurus raathi
- Lived
- 237 to 227 million years ago, Late Triassic
- Group
- Early sauropodomorphs
- Found in
- Zimbabwe
- Named by
- Griffin et al. 2022
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
230 million years ago
Field notes
About Mbiresaurus
What it was like
Mbiresaurus was a small, early plant eater, from the long-necked line that later produced the giant sauropods. It walked on two legs and had a small head with serrated, leaf-shaped teeth.
It is known from a nearly complete skeleton.
Its world
It lived in the Late Triassic in what is now Zimbabwe. Its bones come from the Pebbly Arkose Formation.
How it was found
Griffin and colleagues named Mbiresaurus in 2022. It is one of the oldest dinosaurs known from Africa.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Sauropodomorpha
Sources: WikidataNamed in: C. T. Griffin, B. M. Wynd, and D. Munyikwa, T. J. Broderick, M. Zondo, S. Tolan, M. C. Langer, S. J. Nesbitt, H. R. Taruvinga. 2022. Africa’s oldest dinosaurs reveal early suppression of dinosaur distribution. Nature 609(7926):313-319