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The new dinosaur, Ajnabia odysseus, a member of the plant-eating duck-billed dinosaur family, was discovered in the rocks of a mine in Morocco, dating back about 66 million years to the end of the Cretaceous period.
Although some duck-billed dinosaurs could reach a length of up to 15 meters (49 feet), experts say Ajnabia was relatively small, measuring the size of a pony at three meters (10 feet).
Experts have been puzzled as to how the dinosaur ended up in Africa, which was an island continent and completely isolated from the deep sea during the late Cretaceous.
Duck-billed dinosaurs evolved in North America and later spread to South America, Asia, and Europe.
Nicholas Longrich, a lecturer at the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath who led the study, described the discovery of the fossil as “the last thing in the world you would expect”.
“It was completely out of place, like finding a kangaroo in Scotland. Africa was completely isolated from water, so how did they get there?” Longrich said in a statement.
After studying Ajnabia’s teeth and jaws, experts determined that it belonged to the Lambeosaurinae subfamily.
Experts say lambeosaurs evolved in North America, before spreading over a land bridge to Asia, and colonized Europe and then Africa, which was surrounded by deep oceans.
Experts believe that duckbills, with their large tails and powerful legs, must have crossed hundreds of kilometers of open sea to reach the continent, rafting on debris, floating or swimming.
“Sherlock Holmes said, once the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,” Longrich said. “It was impossible to walk to Africa. These dinosaurs evolved long after continental drift divided continents and we have no evidence of land bridges. Geology tells us Africa was isolated from the oceans. If it is. so, the only way to get there is by water. “
But the team of researchers, led by the University of Bath with researchers from Spain, the United States, France and Morocco, believe this is the first time an ocean crossing has been suggested for dinosaurs.
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