Musankwa

Musankwa sanyatiensis

Musankwa ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Triassic. Bones have been found in Zimbabwe.

When: Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago
Named in: 2024 · Barrett, P.; Chapelle, K.; Sciscio, L.; Broderick, T.; Zondo, M.; Munyikwa, D.; Choiniere, J.
Hip height: Not established
Length: Not established
Weight: 386 kg · 851 lb
Found in: Zimbabwe · Pebbly Arkose
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two legs
Kind: early long-neck · Sauropodomorph
Family branch: Plateosauria

The story in short

The genus Musankwa dates to 2024, the year P. Barrett and colleagues described it. The name means “boy close to marriage.”

It lived in the Late Triassic (Norian), roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago. Finds come from Zimbabwe, including the Pebbly Arkose Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Musankwa at a body mass around 386 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Plateosauria, among the early long-necked dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Plateosauravus

Plateosauravus cullingworthi

Late Triassic (Norian · Rhaetian) · roughly 227.3 to 201.4 million years ago

Pradhania

Pradhania gracilis

Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago

Ruehleia

Ruehleia bedheimensis

Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago