New Dinosaur Species Musango Matusadonaensis Discovered In Zimbabwe

Identified as Musango matusadonaensis, the animal sheds light on the Late Triassic period, a pivotal epoch when dinosaurs were beginning to expand across the planet and establish ecological dominance.

The 2018 Spurwing Island Expedition and Fossil Recovery

The remains were originally unearthed during a 2018 expedition to Spurwing Island in Lake Kariba by an international team of researchers from Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Professor Paul Barrett, a paleontologist and Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, spotted part of a hind leg while walking along the shoreline as the bones eroded out of the ground.

Paleontologists recovered bones from the spine, ribs, arms, legs, and feet. Analysis of the fossils indicates that the specimen was roughly eight years old and almost fully grown at the time of its death, having previously recovered from a serious injury or infection.

Physical Characteristics and Ancient Ecosystems

Researchers estimate that Musango matusadonaensis stood about 1.5 meters, or roughly 5 feet, tall at the hip, and reached approximately 4.5 meters in total length—roughly the size of a car. Despite that length, the animal was lightly built, weighing about 222 kilograms, or roughly 490 pounds, according to findings published by the Natural History Museum. (Other early estimates cited by news reports placed the weight higher at around 390 kilograms.)

Belonging to the sauropodomorph group, the species represents an evolutionary stepping stone toward the giant long-necked sauropods that later became the largest land animals in Earth’s history. Although its skull is missing, scientists deduce it was a herbivore or omnivore that fed on plants growing near rivers and streams.

“Until recently, it was assumed that the dinosaurs living across southern Africa were largely the same. However, these discoveries are showing that this part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana was actually made of a series of smaller ecosystems – each with a different cast of characters.”

Scientists Discover New Dinosaur Species Musango matusadonaensis in Zimbabwe

Professor Paul Barrett, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum

The dinosaur shared its habitat with lungfish, crocodile-like phytosaurs, and other early dinosaurs, including Musankwa sanyatiensis, which the same research team named in 2024 as the fourth dinosaur ever described from Zimbabwe. Musango now stands as the fifth.

Naming the Species and Future Paleontological Fieldwork

The genus name honors the houseboat Musankwa, which served as the research team’s floating laboratory during their fieldwork, combined with the nearby Sanyati River. According to the Natural History Museum, the word Musango stems from the ChiShona language and translates to living in the bush, reflecting the remote setting. The species name, matusadonaensis, references the adjacent Matusadona National Park.

Co-author Dr. Kimberley Chapelle noted that African dinosaur fossils have historically been underrepresented in global collections largely because fewer researchers have conducted field excavations there compared to North America or Europe. Professor Jonah Choiniere of Johannesburg’s Evolutionary Studies Institute emphasized that the discovery validates the importance of remote fieldwork and international cooperation.

“It suggests that what we’ve found so far is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ve already got one other new species that we’ve yet to describe, while our team has been told about other fossils from the region that we’ve yet to look at. I think it’s likely there are even more dinosaurs still to be found there.”

Professor Paul Barrett, Merit Researcher at the Natural History Museum

With an undescribed species already in hand and unexamined fossil leads reported from the region, researchers anticipate that further expeditions in southern Africa will continue to reshape our understanding of early dinosaur evolution.