New dinosaur species ‘discovered’ in Joburg Posted by Gabrielle Jacobs on 6 August 2019 Tags:dinosaur, fossil, Jurassic, Natural History Museum, Ngwevu intloko, University of the Witwatersrand A dinosaur fossil that was misidentified decades ago and has been housed in a collection at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Evolutionary Studies Institute was recently discovered to be an entirely new species. ‘This is a dinosaur that’s been hiding in plain sight,’ said Professor Paul Barrett, a dinosaur researcher at the Natural History Museum in London who was tasked with reassessing the fossil specimen along with Wits PhD student Kimberley Chapelle. Chapelle is the main author of a study detailing the new discovery. Not only is this dinosaur fossil a new species of sauropodomorph but it’s a completely new genus named Ngwevu intloko. The fossil was initially confused with similar species (Massospondylus) found in Southern Africa. Thrilled to announce a new #dinosaur, which we can welcome today: the early sauropodomorph Ngwevu intloko from South Africa, in a paper led my Kimi Chapelle and @ESI_FossilLab @jonahchoiniere with help from @NationalMuseumB and me #NHMdino https://t.co/YCdNWkWT8v pic.twitter.com/wcrvRw4U6L — NHMdinolab (@NHMdinolab) August 5, 2019 Ngwevu intloko isiXhosa for ‘grey skull’ consists of a well-preserved, fully-grown skull and skeleton. It is best be described as a slender, long-necked and largely herbivorous dinosaur of the new Lower Jurassic Elliott Formation of South Africa. The ‘newly-discovered’ specimen is expected to be able to teach researchers a lot more about the early Jurassic period, when dinosaurs boomed onto the evolutionary stage. The fossil was initially found in Fouriesburg, Free State, in 1978. Also read: Remains of world’s biggest Tyrannosaurus rex excavated Featured image: Natural History Museum Dino Lab/Twitter You may also like Related Posts Blue stingrays have returned to Knysna Estuary 13 December 2019 Blue stingrays, an inshore species found along SA's coastline, have made their annual migratory trip... read more Three arrested for possession of pangolin parts 13 December 2019 Three people from Bellville, Cape Town have been arrested for the possession of body parts... read more Shocking timelapse shows glacial retreat over 48 years 12 December 2019 NASA has released sobering footage showing the state of the planet's glaciers over 50 years. Retreating... read more PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE
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