{"id":143081,"date":"2019-08-08T18:47:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/a-fossil-hidden-in-plain-sight-in-south-africa-turns-out-to-be-a-new-dinosaur-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2019-08-08T18:47:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:47:37","slug":"a-fossil-hidden-in-plain-sight-in-south-africa-turns-out-to-be-a-new-dinosaur-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/a-fossil-hidden-in-plain-sight-in-south-africa-turns-out-to-be-a-new-dinosaur-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"A fossil hidden in plain sight in South Africa turns out to be a new dinosaur | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fossil hidden in plain sight in South Africa turns out to be a new dinosaur<\/a>: <\/p>\n

The \u201cGrey Skull\u201d specimen turned out to belong to an entirely new dinosaur species and genus.<\/span> Kimberley Chapelle<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About 200 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth \u2013 and among them, in what is today southern Africa, was the plant eating Massospondylus carinatus<\/em>. The supercontinent Pangaea was still intact; it was the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic epoch.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the present, where I am a researcher who\u2019s spent the past six years studying Massospondylus carinatus<\/em>. The aim of my research has been twofold: better understanding and describing the anatomy of Massospondylus<\/em>, as well as understanding how it grew as it aged. <\/p>\n

Hundreds of Massospondylus<\/em> fossils have been collected across southern Africa, ranging in size from baby to adult. One of these specimens has been in the collections at the University of the Witwatersrand\u2019s Evolutionary Studies Institute since 1978. The fossil has been included in research before. But it\u2019s been incorrectly viewed simply as a deformed Massospondylus<\/em> specimen. It was affectionately nicknamed the \u201cGrey Skull\u201d specimen.<\/p>\n

As part of my PhD, I scanned the skull of the specimen to get a better picture of what it looked like inside. I used a CT-scan \u2013 a method that has revolutionised the world of palaeontology: we can now reconstruct and visualise fossils at an unprecedented level of detail. <\/p>\n

And my scans presented some surprising findings. They suggested that the \u201cGrey Skull\u201d was not just another Massospondylus<\/em> specimen. Further testing and examination established that in fact it was an entirely new, previously undescribed species and genus.<\/p>\n

The species, which we\u2019ve named Ngwevu intloko<\/em> (\u201cgrey skull\u201d in isiXhosa), is an additional piece of the puzzle in understanding what our world looked like 200 million years ago. Ngwevu<\/em> and Massospondylus<\/em> lived in the Jurassic period, which came just after the End-Triassic Extinction \u2013 one of the world\u2019s largest extinction events. The more we know about the animals that lived during this time, the more we can start to comprehend how species react and recover after an extinction event.<\/p>\n

A thorough process<\/h2>\n

So how did I realise that \u201cGrey Skull\u201d might be more than just a deformed Massospondylus<\/em> specimen?<\/p>\n

Usually when specimens are deformed during fossilisation, they have a lot of cracks or are not symmetrical. The \u201cGrey Skull\u201d has very few cracks and is very symmetrical. The proportions of the skull, as well as features on the individual bones, are different. In addition, the rest of the skeleton has some noticeable differences, including on the pelvis.<\/p>\n

But the CT scans were just one step in the process. To be certain that a fossil belongs to a new species, it is crucial to rule out the possibility that it is a younger or older version of an already existing species. In this case, my PhD supervisors and I had to rule out the possibility that the \u201cGrey Skull\u201d might be a teenage Massospondylus<\/em>. <\/p>\n

This is a difficult task to accomplish with fossils \u2013 it\u2019s rare to have a complete age series of fossils from a single species. Luckily, Masssospondylus<\/em> has a great fossil record and we were able to look at what changes it goes through when it grows and whether these were similar to those seen in the \u201cGrey Skull\u201d. This allowed us to rule out age as a possible explanation for the differences we observed.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ngwevu surrounded by other skulls.<\/span> Jonah Choiniere<\/span><\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Originally, we assumed that the fossil would be very closely related to Massospondylus<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But when we ran the analysis, we found that its closest relative is actually a dinosaur found in China called Lufengosaurus<\/em>. In fact, the group that this new taxon belongs to (Massospondylidae) includes dinosaurs whose fossils have been found all over the world \u2013 including in China, South America and North America. <\/p>\n

This is not only an indication of how successful they were, but also a great reminder of how different the world looked when these animals roamed.<\/p>\n

A proudly South African dinosaur<\/h2>\n

We decided to name the new species Ngwevu intloko<\/em> to honour South Africa\u2019s heritage. isiXhosa is the country\u2019s second most spoken language, and Ngwevu intloko<\/em> is a proudly South African dinosaur.<\/p>\n

Not many people in South Africa realise that the country has a rich dinosaur fossil record. Many dinosaurs roamed the region hundreds of millions of years ago, and people come from around the world to study South African fossils. <\/p>\n

The most rewarding part of this whole experience for me has been to see South African palaeontology in the limelight at an international level. It\u2019s also a really great reminder that there\u2019s still so much for palaeontologists to learn. Ngwevu<\/em> was discovered more than 40 years ago, and its significance has only just become apparent. Who knows what else might be hiding in specimen collections in South Africa and elsewhere?<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Kimberley E.J. Chapelle receives funding from the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences, the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST) and the DST-NRF African Origins Platform.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
\n<\/p>\n

Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join the fun:<\/strong> Add Your event<\/a> | Submit a Press Release<\/a> | Add your listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A fossil hidden in plain sight in South Africa turns out to be a new dinosaur: The \u201cGrey Skull\u201d specimen turned out to belong to an entirely new dinosaur species and genus. Kimberley Chapelle About 200 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the Earth \u2013 and among them, in what is today southern Africa, was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[428,8890,8880,8519,11498,24078,4481,3576,4736],"class_list":{"0":"post-143081","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-africa","8":"tag-conversation","9":"tag-dinosaur","10":"tag-fossil","11":"tag-hidden","12":"tag-plain","13":"tag-sight","14":"tag-south","15":"tag-turns","16":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143081\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}