Minqaria
"beak"
Type species Minqaria bata
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ornithopods, Hadrosauridae
- Found in
- Morocco
- Named by
- Longrich et al. 2024
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
Coastal land beside a shallow sea in what is now Morocco. Ajnabia and Chenanisaurus also come from the marine rocks that preserved its skull.
Field notes
About Minqaria
What it was like
Minqaria was a small lambeosaurine duckbill, a plant eater known from part of a skull and jaw.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, at the very end of the Cretaceous, in what is now Morocco. Its fossils come from rocks laid down in a shallow sea. It shared that coast with the abelisaur Chenanisaurus and the duckbill Ajnabia. Duckbills probably reached Africa from Europe by crossing the sea.
How it was found
Longrich and colleagues named Minqaria in 2024. The type species is Minqaria bata.
Field gallery
More views of Minqaria
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 2
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 Minqaria.
The evidence
The science behind Minqaria
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Associated skull bones preserve part of the upper jaw with teeth, a lower jaw and the braincase.
- The lower jaw is short and deep, and the upper tooth row follows a wavy curve.
- The back of the skull roof forms a rounded dome.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing body, limbs and tail are restored from other duckbills such as Edmontosaurus.
- Arenysaurus provides a comparison for the rounded back of the skull roof.
Still unknown
- The shape of any crest over its nose.
- Its full body proportions and hand shape.
- Its skin covering and color.
Discovery timeline
- 2017Same rocksLongrich et al.
- 2021Close relativeLongrich et al.
- 2024Named itLongrich et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Minqaria
Same rocks
Described Chenanisaurus from a deep, short lower jaw, documenting a large predator in the same coastal fossil deposits.
An abelisaurid from the latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) of Morocco, North Africa. Cretaceous Research 76: 40-52
Read the paper : An abelisaurid from the latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) of Morocco, North Africa (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described Ajnabia, a related Moroccan duckbill, and proposed that duckbills reached Africa by crossing the sea from Europe.
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)Named it
Named Minqaria from associated skull bones and showed that its jaw and teeth differed from those of 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 relatives
Other members of Hadrosauridae
Sources: Wikidata