Mbiresaurus

Mbire lizard

• Mbire · Place name (Mbire District, Zimbabwe) · district where the fossils were found
• sauros · Greek · lizard

Mbiresaurus is named after the Mbire District in northern Zimbabwe, where the fossils were found, combined with the Greek word for lizard. The only species, M. raathi, honors paleontologist Michael Raath, who worked on early dinosaurs from Zimbabwe. It is one of the oldest known sauropodomorphs, the group that later produced the giant long-necked sauropods.

Named by

Griffin et al.

Year named

2022

Period

Late Triassic

Stage

Carnian

Found in

Pebbly Arkose Formation, Mid-Zambezi Basin, Mbire District, Zimbabwe

A basal sauropodomorph, described as one of the earliest dinosaurs known from southern Africa and the first Triassic dinosaur skeleton of this age from the region. Type species: Mbiresaurus raathi.