The dinosaurs are long gone (although we are still surrounded by their direct descendants, the birds). But researchers are still hard at work piecing together the fossils to create a more complete picture of how dinosaurs lived, walked, ate and raised their young. Their discoveries offer a glimpse into ancient landscapes, helping modern scientists better understand today’s climates and ecosystems. Conversation Africa has featured a number of dinosaur finds on the continent. Here are five essential reads:
Rich disc
Africa is widely recognized as the birthplace of mankind. But less attention is paid to its incredibly diverse fossil record. Many of the planet’s most important life forms come from the continent: bacteria-like organisms. many species of dinosaurs and, of course, primates – including humans. Even the continent’s rocks are among the oldest in the world. Some of them date back more than three billion years. This is what prompted Julien Benoit to create a syllabus for paleontology students that focused on African fossil discoveries rather than findings from elsewhere in the world. Read more: Africa’s rich fossil finds should be given the time they deserve
Hidden in plain sight
Many museums and universities maintain extensive collections of fossils. Their contents have been studied, marked and recorded. Sometimes, however, they hold secrets that can only be revealed through a combination of scientific hunches and cutting-edge technology. So Kimberley EJ Chapelle discovered and described an entirely new species: the Ngwevu intelo (‘grey skull’ in isiXhosa). Read more: A fossil hiding in plain sight in South Africa turns out to be a new dinosaur
A giant African dinosaur
Researchers are constantly rewriting the fossil record thanks to new discoveries. Fossilized dinosaur tracks are a useful tool for this task, as evidenced by a – literally – giant find in Lesotho. It was once believed that the ancient landscapes of South Africa were dominated by small and agile two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs called theropods. But the study by Lara Sciscio and her colleagues in Lesotho unexpectedly revealed that very large carnivorous dinosaurs with an estimated body length of between 8 and 9 meters (or 26 feet) – that’s a two-story building or two adult rhinos nose to tail – lived in the region as well. Read more: Meet the giant dinosaur that roamed southern Africa 200 million years ago
Trace findings
Still on the subject of footprints, it turns out that fossilized dinosaur footprints contain incredible detail about more than just the size and shape of the creature that created them. As Miengah Abrahams explains, they can reveal which organism made the tracks – different animals have different footprint shapes. They offer clues to the creature’s behavior and may even hold clues to what kind of environment the dinosaurs roamed – did they sink into wet sand or stand firm on dry gravel? Read more: Tracks bring science one step closer to understanding South Africa’s dinosaurs
A jagged bite
Movement from feet to teeth: dinosaur chompers hold important clues about their lives, diets and how they moved across landscapes. That’s why Femke Holwerda ventured into the Kem Kem Beds, a geological formation in North Africa, in search of fossilized dinosaur teeth. Her discoveries allowed her to create a more complete picture of herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs, called sauropods, from the Early Cretaceous period of North Africa. Read more: What we learned from dinosaur teeth in North Africa
