Ajnabia
Ajnabia was a small duck-billed dinosaur that lived in Africa at the very end of the Cretaceous. It was a surprise to scientists because duck-billed dinosaurs were not known from Africa before. Ajnabia probably swam or rafted across the sea from Europe to reach its home.2
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Fun facts
Ajnabia is a lambeosaurine hadrosaur, a group of duck-billed dinosaurs that often had fancy head crests.2
It was one of the smallest duck-billed dinosaurs, only about 3.5 metres (11 feet) long.2
Ajnabia lived around 68 to 66 million years ago, just before the mass extinction that ended the age of dinosaurs.1
Its fossils were found in phosphate mines, which were once a shallow sea. The bones probably washed in from land.2
Ajnabia is related to European duck-billed dinosaurs, suggesting its ancestors crossed the sea from Europe to Africa.2
Only a few bones of Ajnabia have been found: part of the upper jaw, a piece of the lower jaw, and some teeth.1
Most asked questions about Ajnabia
?What did Ajnabia eat?
It was a herbivore, eating plants. As a duck-billed dinosaur, it had many teeth for chewing tough vegetation.1
?Did Ajnabia have a crest?
It probably did. Ajnabia was a lambeosaurine hadrosaur, a group known for having fancy head crests, though its fossils don't include the skull top.1
?How did Ajnabia get to Africa?
Scientists think it swam or rafted across the sea from Europe, because Africa was isolated by water at the time.12
?When did Ajnabia live?
About 68 to 66 million years ago, in the very latest Cretaceous, just before the asteroid impact that ended the dinosaurs.1
?Is Ajnabia a dinosaur?
Yes, it is a dinosaur. Specifically, it is a duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosaur) from the group Lambeosaurinae.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Ajnabia
- Named by
- Longrich et al. 20214
- Group
- Duck-bills
- Family / clade
- Hadrosauridae4
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae4
- Age of the rocks
- 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
- Rock formations
- Couche III4
- Countries
- Morocco4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Ajnabia was named in 2021 by Longrich and colleagues. The fossils came from phosphate mines in Morocco and were described as a new species of duck-billed dinosaur.3
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly how Ajnabia got to Africa. It may have swum or rafted across the sea from Europe, but the details of this journey are still debated.2
Where the facts come from
- Ajnabia (en.wikipedia.org)
- A new small duckbilled dinosaur (Hadrosauridae: Lambeosaurinae) from Morocco and dinosaur diversity in the late Maastrichtian of North Africa | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Ajnabia in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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