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Scientists working in Morocco have discovered the very first apostles of a duck-billed dinosaur ever found in Africa. The findings suggest that the dinosaurs crossed hundreds of kilometers of open water to reach Africa after evolving in North America and migrating to South America and then to Asia, Europe and Africa. A study on the findings was recently published in Cretaceous Research.
The new dinosaur is nicknamed Ajnabia odysseus and the fossils have been found in Moroccan rocks dated to the late Cretaceous 66 million years ago. The fossilized creature was a member of the duck-billed dinosaur family, which are plant-eating dinosaurs up to 15 meters long. However, the recently discovered fossils show a much smaller creature than other members of the family at just three meters in length.
Researchers say it was about the size of a pony. In the late Cretaceous, Africa was a deep-water island between where the dinosaur evolved and where the fossils were found. A researcher on the team who discovered the fossils said it was “the last thing in the world you would expect”. He compared the fossil find in Casablanca to funding a kangaroo in Scotland.
Study of the fossil found that it belonged to a subfamily of duckbills known as Lambeosaurs which had bony head crests. That dinosaur subfamily evolved in North America and migrated across a land bridge to Asia. Scientists believe the dinosaurs had to cross hundreds of kilometers of open water by rafting on debris, floating or swimming to colonize Africa.
Dinosaur fossils have been found in river deposits and marine rocks; they may have swam the distance. The name of the new dinosaur fossil pays homage to the sea crossing. Ajnabia translates to foreigner and Odysseus refers to the Greek seafarer.
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