Karongasaurus

Karongasaurus is an Early Cretaceous titanosaur discovered in the northern region of Malawi. Formally described in 2005 by Malawian palaeontologist Elizabeth Gomani, it is based on a distinctive partial mandible and slender teeth recovered from the Dinosaur Beds. Measuring roughly eight to ten metres long, it was a modest-sized titanosaur that coexisted with the slightly larger sauropod Malawisaurus. Its slender, pencil-shaped teeth were concentrated at the very front of its narrow jaw, suggesting it had evolved a specialized browsing strategy, perhaps neatly plucking soft leaves or aquatic vegetation along river margins. Its discovery highlights the remarkable diversity of sauropods across inland African ecosystems in the Cretaceous.

It was the first dinosaur described by an indigenous African woman palaeontologist, Elizabeth Gomani.

Where and when

Karongasaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 125 to 113 million years ago (Aptian age). Its remains come from Malawi, in the Dinosaur Beds.

The numbers

Length 9 m (estimates run from 8 to 10 m). Mass about 2.8 t. Hip height about 2 m. That is 5.3 human-lengths, or 0.8 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

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