A New Genus of Stegosaurs Has Been Found and It's the Oldest One Yet

Proud of yourself for finding that sock you thought you lost? Not to rain on your parade, but paleontologists have discovered a new species of stegosaurian dinosaur, and it's the oldest stegosaur ever. Time to update your dinosaur figurine collection.

Posted by nightqueen

Researchers were on the Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco when they stumbled across the fossilized remains of a stegosaur dinosaur. It is the first stegosaur ever to be found in North Africa, and it's around 168 million years old.

Via Independent
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Although all that the researchers could find were a few vertebrae and an upper arm bone, it was enough to confirm that this dinosaur is not only a new species, but a new genus. This new stegosaur comes from around the Middle Jurassic, whereas all other stegosaurs come from later in the Jurassic period.

Via Mirror
The new stegosaur is named Adratiklit boulahfa, which comes from the Berber words for lizard and mountain. The Adratiklit is an armored herbivorous dinosaur and is more closely related to the European stegosaurs Dacentrurus and Miragaia than it is to the two stegosaurs known to come from Southern Africa.

Via The Guardian
When stegosaurs were alive, the world was split into two continents: Laurasia and Gondwana. Laurasia was made up of most of the countries in what is now the Northern Hemisphere, and Gondwana was made up of Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia. Until now, most stegosaur remains have been found on land that was once Laurasia. But the Adratiklit was found in Gondwana land, suggesting that there could be many more dinosaur remains to be found.

Via NHM
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Further discoveries will result in a more thorough understanding of the Adratiklit boulahfa and dinosaurs in general, which may help us understand planet Earth more. It's an exciting time to be alive.

Via NHM