Researchers have identified a 240-million-year-old fossil species from Tanzania as Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda, marking the first confirmed record of the South American genus in eastern Africa. The discovery, published on September 16, 2026, links ancient rock sequences across continents and reshapes timelines for early dinosaur evolution.
An international team led by the University of Bristol described the new prehistoric animal species from Triassic deposits in Tanzania. Named Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda after the land of the Wamanda people who inhabit the region, the creature belongs to a herbivorous group of mammal-lineage vertebrates known as dicynodonts that flourished before dinosaurs rose to dominance.
Museum Collections Reveal a 60-Year-Old Discovery
The fossils at the center of the discovery spent more than six decades in storage. They were originally collected during a British expedition to what is now Tanzania in 1963 and subsequently housed at the Natural History Museum in London. Because researchers only partly studied the extensive collection of synapsid fossils at the time, uncertainty remained over the identity of several specimens.
The research breakthrough came when scientists examined an undescribed associated skeleton alongside a more recently discovered fragmentary skull. The analysis revealed the remains belonged to the genus Dinodontosaurus, which had previously been known exclusively from South America.
“This fossil specimen from Tanzania has been in our care for over 60 years, and it’s wonderful that its identity has now been brought to light. By revealing that Dinodontosaurus lived in South America and eastern Africa, it offers a glimpse of our planet 240 million years ago.”
Dr Mike Day, Curator of Non-Mammalian Tetrapods at the Natural History Museum, London
Connecting the Triassic Rock Sequences of Tanzania and South America
Beyond introducing a new species, the identification establishes a vital geological link. The Tanzanian deposits yielding the new fossils are the same geological deposits that have produced remains previously thought to represent the oldest possible dinosaurs.
Scientists previously believed those rock sequences shared fossil genera with deposits in South Africa designated as Middle Triassic. With Dinodontosaurus now confirmed in both Tanzania and South America, the finding demonstrates that the rock sequences in both regions are of equivalent age.
“Our discovery marks the first confirmed record of the genus Dinodontosaurus outside South America. The finding links the Tanzanian and South American fossil-bearing rocks, showing they are of equivalent age.”
Hady George, PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, and lead author
Reshaping the Timeline of Early Dinosaur Origins
The connection to South America carries substantial consequences for evolutionary timelines. New radiometric dates from South America indicate that early dinosaur-bearing rock sequences there are up to 10 million years younger than those in South Africa.
That age adjustment means Triassic rocks in Tanzania can no longer be regarded as preserving the oldest potential dinosaur fossils. Researchers stated that the realization prompts a wider reassessment of when and where dinosaurs first evolved.
“This helps confirm that the oldest dinosaur candidates from Tanzania are probably no older than those from South America, refining the timeline of dinosaur origins. Forthcoming research projects will examine the remaining fossil material and explore the biomechanics and ecology of Triassic dicynodonts.”
Hady George, PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, and lead author
Decades of Waiting and Modern Micro-CT Scanning
For some members of the research team, the publication represents the culmination of decades of work. Nigel Larkin, Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, studied the dicynodont skeleton for an MSc thesis at University College London in 1994.
“I studied this dicynodont skeleton for my MSc thesis at University College London back in 1994 and judged it to be a species new to science, but it took me nearly 30 years to start the process of writing it up for publication. I’m glad I waited, as the international team we put together, headed by Hady George, has done an amazing job of fleshing-out this story in much more detail and depth than I could have achieved on my own.”
Photo: Taylorandfrancisgroup
Nigel Larkin, Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, and a co-author
Technological leaps over the intervening thirty years transformed the study. Researchers applied modern Micro-CT scanning to examine internal structures that were impossible to analyze in the 1990s, while international cooperation made collaborative synthesis significantly faster.
With the description published in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology, the team intends to turn its attention to the remaining unexamined postcranial skeleton material from Tanzania to further clarify the biomechanics and ecology of Triassic dicynodonts.
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