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Africa’s oldest dinosaurs reveal early suppression of dinosaur distribution

Nature volume 609, pages 313–319 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

The vertebrate lineages that would shape Mesozoic and Cenozoic terrestrial ecosystems originated across Triassic Pangaea1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. By the Late Triassic (Carnian stage, ~235 million years ago), cosmopolitan ‘disaster faunas’ (refs. 12,13,14) had given way to highly endemic assemblages12,13 on the supercontinent. Testing the tempo and mode of the establishment of this endemism is challenging—there were few geographic barriers to dispersal across Pangaea during the Late Triassic. Instead, palaeolatitudinal climate belts, and not continental boundaries, are proposed to have controlled distribution15,16,17,18. During this time of high endemism, dinosaurs began to disperse and thus offer an opportunity to test the timing and drivers of this biogeographic pattern. Increased sampling can test this prediction: if dinosaurs initially dispersed under palaeolatitudinal-driven endemism, then an assemblage similar to those of South America4,19,20,21 and India19,22—including the earliest dinosaurs—should be present in Carnian deposits in south-central Africa. Here we report a new Carnian assemblage from Zimbabwe that includes Africa’s oldest definitive dinosaurs, including a nearly complete skeleton of the sauropodomorph Mbiresaurus raathi gen. et sp. nov. This assemblage resembles other dinosaur-bearing Carnian assemblages, suggesting that a similar vertebrate fauna ranged high-latitude austral Pangaea. The distribution of the first dinosaurs is correlated with palaeolatitude-linked climatic barriers, and dinosaurian dispersal to the rest of the supercontinent was delayed until these barriers relaxed, suggesting that climatic controls influenced the initial composition of the terrestrial faunas that persist to this day.

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Fig. 1: The new Zimbabwean assemblage is on the same palaeolatitudinal climatic belt as other Carnian dinosaur-bearing assemblages and has a similar taxonomic composition.
Fig. 2: Skeletal anatomy of the Mbiresaurus raathi holotype (NHMZ 2222) and paratype (NHMZ 2547).
Fig. 3: The tempo and mode of Triassic dinosaur dispersal.

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Data availability

All data files used for analyses are hosted on Dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrqd). All fossils are reposited in recognized natural history institutions. To preserve the integrity of the fossil localities and the natural history resources of Zimbabwe, we do not present the geographic coordinate data here. Geographic coordinate data are available on request from the NHMZ and are recorded in the specimen catalogue and records of the NHMZ for full reproducibility. This publication and associated nomenclatural acts have been registered in ZooBank as urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:BE5720A6-9CE6-48A0-A232-32A01CC551B0.

Code availability

All code used in this study has been deposited in Dryad (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrqd).

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Fitzpatrick and the NHMZ for access to collections and for fieldwork logistics, National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe for field logistic assistance, the Research Council of Zimbabwe for foreign researcher permits and the Zimbabwe Geological Survey for mapping information. We acknowledge the Broderick family for help with field logistics. We thank local and regional Zimbabwean authorities (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), Mushumbi Pools Police, Mbire Rural Council, Mbire District Tsetse Control, Mbire District Development Coordinator) for accommodating fieldwork. We acknowledge the people of Dande, on whose Communal Land this research was conducted. We thank K. Rose, T. Oishi, B. Chermak, D. Chermak, G. Iannaccone and V. Yarborough for fossil preparation. We thank E. Mbambo, K. Madzana and G. Malunga for fieldwork assistance and Z. Murphy and L. Broderick for documentary assistance. We thank M. Stocker, S. Xiao, J. Uyeda, M. Raath, M. Landis, A. Bhullar, J. Gauthier, the Virginia Tech Paleobiology Research Group, J. Choiniere, W. Parker, K. Angielczyk, T. Melo, V. Paes-Neto, L. Corecco, C. Schultz, M. Bronzati, J. Marsola, M. Garcia, B. McPhee, F. Montefeltro and the other students/postdocs of USP Ribeirão Preto and UFRGS for discussion. We thank the following collections managers and institutions: M. Bamford, B. Zipfel, BPI (now ESI); Z. Skosan Erasmus, N. Mtalana, SAM; C. Schultz, UFRGS; A.M. Ribeiro, MCN; M.B. de Andrade, MCP. The Willi Hennig Society provided TNT software free of charge. We acknowledge Advanced Research Computing at Virginia Tech (https://arc.vt.edu/) for providing computational resources and technical support that contributed to our results. This work was supported by a National Geographic Society Early Career Grant (CP-R004-17), a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, a Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grant, a Paleontological Society Arthur J. Boucot Student Research Award, two Virginia Tech Graduate School Graduate Research Development Program awards, a Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences Summer Scholarship (all to C.T.G.), a National Geographic Society Exploration Grant (NGS-157R-18, to C.T.G. and S.J.N.) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP 2020/07997-4, to M.C.L.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Christopher T. Griffin, Brenen M. Wynd & Sterling J. Nesbitt

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Christopher T. Griffin

  3. Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Christopher T. Griffin

  4. National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Darlington Munyikwa

  5. Department of Geology and Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

    Darlington Munyikwa, Michel Zondo & Hazel R. Taruvinga

  6. Makari, Chisipite, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Tim J. Broderick

  7. Chipembele Wildlife Education Centre, Mfuwe, Zambia

    Stephen Tolan

  8. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Max C. Langer

  9. School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

    Hazel R. Taruvinga

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  1. Christopher T. Griffin
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Contributions

C.T.G. and S.J.N. designed the research project; C.T.G., D.M., T.J.B., S.T. and S.J.N. designed the field project; D.M. conducted fieldwork and permit logistics with C.T.G.; C.TG., D.M., T.J.B., M.Z., S.T., S.J.N. and H.R.T. conducted fieldwork; B.M.W. conducted the phylogenetic analyses and the ancestral state estimation and constructed the biogeographic dispersal model with input from C.T.G., M.C.L. and S.J.N.; D.M. and T.J.B. conducted geological and stratigraphic mapping; C.T.G. conducted histological analysis; C.T.G., M.C.L. and S.J.N. assembled the differential diagnosis; D.M. composed the Shona-language summary and M.Z. composed the Ndebele-language summary; C.T.G. wrote the manuscript with contributions from all authors.

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Correspondence to Christopher T. Griffin.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 Map of individual fossil localities from the most productive region of the Pebbly Arkose Fm., Dande Communal Area, Zimbabwe.

Localities without an accompanying silhouette represent unidentified bone fragments. Version of map with latitude and longitude available on request through C.T.G. and the NHMZ.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Stratigraphic columns and detrital zircon dating information from the Pebbly Arkose Fm., Dande Communal Area, Zimbabwe.

a, Stratigraphic columns of three transects (Extended Data Fig. 1) showing that taxa from the Dande assemblage are present in multiple stratigraphic layers in this region. b, Concordia plot of 238U–206Pb ratios against 235U–207Pb ratios of detrital zircons from the Pebbly Arkose Fm., Dande Communal Area, Zimbabwe. Error ellipses are error at 2σ. c, Detrital zircon age distribution, indicating the youngest grains in the sample are ~534 Ma. d, Best maximum age for the detrital zircon distribution is ~534 Ma, indicating the processes that created these zircons occurred long before the deposition of our Carnian locality. Error bars are standard error at 2σ; n = 275 independent measurements.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Bone histology of Mbiresaurus raathi, gen. et sp. nov.

a, Right tibia of Mbiresaurus raathi holotype (NHMZ 2222) in medial view (red element in skeletal reconstruction). Arrow indicates location of histological sampling. b, Whole-slide image of tibial histology of NHMZ 2222 under cross-polarized light with waveplate. c, Posterolateral portion of the tibial cortex under cross-polarized light with waveplate. d, Sub-periosteal tissue of the anteromedial portion of the cortex under cross-polarized light with waveplate. e, Internal portion of the cortex showing original endosteal lamellae and compact coarse cancellous bone formed via cortical drift under cross-polarized light with waveplate. Arrow indicates endosteal lamellae (i.e., inner circumferential layer). ant, anterior; cccb, compact coarse cancellous bone; prox, proximal; lat, lateral. Scale bars, a, 1 cm, b, 1 mm, c, 500 μm, d, 250 μm, e, 500 μm.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Maximum clade credibility trees returned by Bayesian phylogenetic inference, and strict and reduced strict consensus trees returned by parsimony-based phylogenetic analyses.

a, Maximum clade credibility (MCC) tree of the Bayesian analysis of the Baron et al.39,61,62,63 matrix. Posterior probabilities for each node reported in the online supplement. b, MCC tree of the Bayesian analysis of the Cabreira et al.26 matrix. Posterior probabilities for each node reported in the online supplement. c, MCC tree of the Bayesian Langer et al.53 matrix, including Saltopus. Posterior probabilities for each node reported in the online supplement. d, Reduced strict consensus of the Langer et al.53 parsimony analysis, excluding character 217 (61,408 MPTs of 1,958 steps; CI = 0.269, RI = 0.617). Strict consensus and supporting synapomorphies reported in the online supplement. e, Reduced strict consensus of the Langer et al.53 parsimony analysis, excluding character 217 and the taxa Saltopus, Agnosophitys, and Nyasasaurus (99,999 [memory overflow] MPTs of 1,942 steps; CI = 0.271, RI = 0.621). Strict consensus and supporting synapomorphies reported in the online supplement. f, Reduced strict consensus of the Baron et al.39,61,62,63 parsimony analysis, excluding character 217 (99,999 [memory overflow] MPTs of 1,923 steps; CI = 0.274, RI = 0.615). Strict consensus and supporting synapomorphies reported in the online supplement. g, Reduced strict consensus of the Baron et al.39,61,62,63 parsimony analysis, excluding character 217 and the taxa Saltopus, Agnosophitys, and Nyasasaurus (61,680 MPTs of 1,907 steps; CI = 0.276, RI = 0.619). Strict consensus and supporting synapomorphies reported in the online supplement. h, Reduced strict consensus of the Cabreira et al.26 parsimony analysis (336 MPTs of 866 steps; CI = 0.336, RI = 0.631). Strict consensus and supporting synapomorphies reported in the online supplement. i, Reduced strict consensus of the Cabreira et al.26 parsimony analysis excluding Saltopus (84 MPTs of 861 steps; CI = 0.338, RI = 0.634). Strict consensus and supporting synapomorphies reported in the online supplement.

Extended Data Fig. 5 Diagnostic features of the Pebbly Arkose Fm. assemblage, Dande Communal Area.

a–c, Gomphodontosuchine traversodontid cynodont, right dentary, a, lateral, b, medial, c, occlusal view. Gomphodontosuchine synapomorphies96 include: anterolingual cusp of lower postcanines strongly posteriorly inclined, procumbent lower incisors, reduced lower canine, labial cusp widest in transverse row of lower postcanines. d–e, Aetosaur, d, left paramedian osteroderm in dorsal view, e, left ilium in lateral view. Aetosaurian synapomorphies97 include: anterior bar on paramedian osteoderm, radiate pattern of ornamentation on paramedian osteoderm. The triangular preacetabular process of the ilium is similar to many early aetosaurs97,98,99. f–h, Herrerasaurid dinosaur, coracoid, f, lateral, g, medial, h, posterodorsal view. As in other herrerasaurids48,100,101,102, there is a long hook-like posteroventral process and the coracoid foramen is anteroventral to the glenoid. i–k, Possible dicynodont, highly weathered trunk vertebra centrum, i, ?anterior, j, ?posterior, k, ?left lateral view. The size and general shape of the centrum (amphicoelous, anteroposteriorly compressed, articular surfaces taller and wider than body) is consistent with those of kannemeyeriiform dicynodonts103. l, Hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur, large left maxilla in occlusal view. m–o, Hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur, smaller articulated maxillae and premaxillae originally reported by Raath et al.29, m, occlusal n, anterior o, left lateral view. The maxillary groove is a rhynchosaurid synapomorphy104. Hyperodapedontine synapomorphies104 include: broader than deep tooth-bearing area of maxilla; ‘Hyperodapedon clade’ synapomorphies104 include: > 2 tooth rows medial to maxillary groove. This rhynchosaur lacks synapomorphies of the Teyumbaita clade of hyperodapedontine rhynchosaurs (T. sulcognathus105 and T. sp54): two maxillary grooves that extend anteriorly beyond the posterior third of the tooth plate (the Zimbabwean form has only one maxillary groove); maxillary area lateral to main groove narrower than the medial area (also present in H. hunei; proportions reversed in Zimbabwean form). Scale bars 1 cm. ant, anterior; dor, dorsal; lat, lateral.

Extended Data Fig. 6 Full ornithodiran phylogeny and ancestral state estimations.

The entire ornithodiran phylogeny recovered by Bayesian analysis of the Langer et al.53 dataset. We follow Ezcurra et al.76 and Kammerer et al.75 in considering lagerpetids as early pterosauromorphs, such that the Lagerpetidae + Dinosauria node is considered Ornithodira. Numbers at nodes indicate posterior probabilities to two significant digits. a. Ancestral state estimation if a Bagualosaurus-aged early theropod is recovered from southern Pangaea (e.g., South America). Note that the theropod dispersal northward from southern Pangaea remains latest Carnian–early Norian in age, preceding the northward dispersal of sauropodomorphs. b. Ancestral state estimation if a Guaibasaurus-aged early theropod is recovered from southern Pangaea (e.g., South America). Note that the theropod dispersal northward from southern Pangaea remains early Norian in age, preceding the northward dispersal of sauropodomorphs.

Extended Data Fig. 7 Biogeographic dispersal model with individual results of sampling sensitivity tests.

a, The dispersal pattern of early dinosaurs from high-latitude southern Pangaea is robust to the possibility of increased sampling of Carnian dinosaurs in other regions of Pangaea; the same general pattern of restriction, dispersal, and later restriction holds with the addition of hypothetical sampling elsewhere in Pangaea. b, The dispersal pattern of early dinosaurs from high-latitude southern Pangaea is consistent among differing phylogenetic topologies—20 trees taken from the posterior distribution of trees from the Langer et al. Bayesian analysis show consistent patterns even given a wide variety of topologies. c, The dispersal pattern of early dinosaurs from high-latitude southern Pangaea is consistent among differing phylogenetic topologies and sensitivity analyses, including the Baron et al. and Cabreira et al. Bayesian trees, if Mbiresaurus raathi is Norian in age, if Lessemsaurus and Ingentia are included in the analysis, and if Bagualosaurus or Guaibasaurus-aged theropods are recovered from South America. Our hypothesis will be falsified if an extremely diverse dinosaurian assemblage is recovered from the Carnian of northern Pangaea (northern Carnian dinosaur assemblage). d, Results of the model variant simulating arid belts in the tropics of both northern and southern Pangaea (see Methods); the same general pattern holds, and this pattern is disrupted a diverse hypothetical northern dinosaurian assemblage, and three hypothetical northern sauropodomorphs.

Extended Data Fig. 8 Dispersal rates for the biogeographic dispersal model.

a, Overall dispersal rates, shown between the different regions of Pangaea. b, The dispersal rates used to define the stepping stone model. c, The dispersal rates used to test for differential dispersal in response to low-latitude climatic barrier and the breakup of northern Pangaea. Note that in our model variant simulating a northern Pangaean arid belt (see Methods), the E↔EP and W↔EP rates were changed from 1 to 0.5.

Extended Data Fig. 9 Further skeletal anatomy of Mbiresaurus raathi, gen. et sp. nov.

Except where noted, all specimens are the holotype (NHMZ 2222). a, Left femur, lateral view. b, Left femur, distal view c, Left femur, potentially referable to M raathi (NHMZ 2223), lateral view. d, Right femur, potentially referable to M raathi (NHMZ 2242), lateral view. e, Left maxilla, occlusomedial view, teeth are numbered. f, Left premaxilla, occlusomedial view. g, Scanning electron microscope image of premaxillary tooth 4. h, Right articular, dorsal view. i, Unprepared right frontal, dorsal view, showing frontal proportions (NHMZ 2222). j, Right tibia, lateral view. k, Right tibia, distal view. l, left scapula and coracoid (NHMZ 2547), lateral view. m, left scapula and coracoid (NHMZ 2547), posterior view. n, Left humerus, proximal view. o, Right astragalus, proximal view. p, Left ilium (NHMZ 2547), medial view. q, Left metatarsal I, proximal (top), anterior (middle), distal (bottom) views. r, Left metatarsal II, proximal (top), anterior (middle), distal (bottom) views. s, Left metatarsal III, proximal (top), anterior (middle), distal (bottom) views. t, Left metatarsal IV, proximal (top), anterior (middle), distal (bottom) views. Scale bars, a–f, h–t, 1 cm; g, 1 mm. 4th, fourth trochanter; a., articulates with; adb, dorsal basin of astragalus; amc, anteromedial corner; ap, ascending process; at, anterior trochanter; ant, anterior; cc, cnemial crest; cf, coracoid foramen; cor, coracoid; ctf, crista tibiofibularis; dlt, dorsolateral trochanter; dpc, deltopectoral crest; dsr, sacral rib of dorsosacral; fc, fibular crest; g, glenoid of scapula and coracoid; gf, glenoid fossa of the articular; lat, lateral; lc, lateral condyle; mc, medial condyle; mt#, metatarsal #; or, orbital rim; plf, posterolateral flange; ppm, palatal process of the maxilla; rap, retroarticular process; ru, rugosity; sa, surangular; sca, scapula; sr1, sacral rib of primordial sacral 1; sr2, sacral rib of primordial sacral 2; stp, transverse processes of sacral vertebrae; ts, trochanteric shelf.

Extended Data Fig. 10 Further comparative skeletal anatomy of Mbiresaurus raathi, gen. et sp. nov.

a, Left ilium, Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2547), lateral view. b, Right ilium (reversed), Buriolestes schultzi (ULBRA-PVT280), lateral view. c, Right ilium (reversed), Saturnalia tupiniquim (MCP 3846-PV), lateral view. d, Left ilium, Panphagia protos (PVSJ 874), lateral view. e, Left ilium, Adeopapposaurus mognai (PVSJ 569), lateral view. f, Left ilium, Plateosaurus engelhardti (SMNS 91310), lateral view. g, Right dentary, Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2222), medial view. h, Left dentary (reversed), Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2222), medial view. i, Left dentary (reversed), Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2222), lateral view. j, Right dentary, Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2222), lateral view. k, Right premaxilla, maxilla, and dentary, Eoraptor lunensis (PVSJ 512), lateral view. l, Right dentary, Saturnalia tupiniquim (UFSM 17614), lateral view. m, Left ulna, Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2222), lateral view. n, Right ulna (reversed), Saturnalia tupiniquim (MCP 3844-PV); Institutional abbreviations in online supplement. o, Right scapula, Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2547), lateral view. p, Left scapula (reversed), Panphagia protos (PVSJ 874), lateral view. q, Left femur, proximal end, Mbiresaurus raathi (NHMZ 2222), anterolateral view. q, Left femur, proximal end, Saturnalia tupiniquim (MCP 3844-PV), anterolateral view. Scale bars 1 cm. a., articulates with; at, anterior trochanter; bs, brevis shelf; dlt, dorsolateral trochanter; emg, external mandibular groove; g, glenoid; lia, linea intrmuscularis cranialis; ol, olecranon process; sp, splenial; ts, trochanteric shelf.

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Griffin, C.T., Wynd, B.M., Munyikwa, D. et al. Africa’s oldest dinosaurs reveal early suppression of dinosaur distribution. Nature 609, 313–319 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05133-x

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