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Mnyamawamtuka

Say it: m-NYAH-mah-wahm-TOO-kah

Name means: “beast of the Mtuka river drainage”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Mnyamawamtuka was a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Tanzania. It had a heart-shaped tail bone and was about as long as a school bus.1

Lived

121 to 94 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Tanzania, near the Mtuka River in the Rukwa Rift Basin2

Food

Plants2

Length

7.6 m1

estimate for the holotype, probably not fully grown

Weight

1.5 tonnes1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 4 bicycles in a rowas long as 42 bananas end to endas heavy as 50 big dogsas heavy as 300 watermelons

How big was Mnyamawamtuka compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Its name comes from Swahili and means 'beast of the Mtuka'.1

The species name 'moyowamkia' means 'heart of the tail' because its tail vertebrae are heart-shaped.1

Mnyamawamtuka lived about 110 to 100 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous.1

It is one of the most complete early titanosaur skeletons ever found, even though the skull is missing.1

Its breastbone was unusually small, less than half the length of its upper arm bone.2

Scientists think it was a close relative of Malawisaurus, another African titanosaur.2

AI-made picture of Mnyamawamtuka — An AI-made picture of how Mnyamawamtuka might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Mnyamawamtuka

?How big was Mnyamawamtuka?

It was about 7.6 metres long and weighed about 1.5 tonnes, though it probably was not fully grown.1 3

?What did Mnyamawamtuka eat?

It was a plant-eater, as are all sauropod dinosaurs. Its teeth were semi-spatulate, good for stripping leaves.2

?Why is Mnyamawamtuka's tail heart-shaped?

The middle tail vertebrae have a heart-shaped rear face, which is why its species name means 'heart of the tail'.1 2

?When did Mnyamawamtuka live?

It lived about 110 to 100 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1 3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Mnyamawamtuka
Named by: Gorscak and O'Connor 20194
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Titanosauria4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 121 to 94 million years (Aptian / Cenomanian)4
Rock formations: Galula4
Countries: Tanzania4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first bones were found in 2004 by the Rukwa Rift Basin Project in Tanzania. It was named and described by Eric Gorscak and Patrick O'Connor in 2019.2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Mnyamawamtuka is related to other titanosaurs; different analyses place it either just outside or inside the group Lithostrotia.2

Where the facts come from

Mnyamawamtuka (en.wikipedia.org)
A new African Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous Galula Formation (Mtuka Member), Rukwa Rift Basin, Southwestern Tanzania | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
Tanzanian 'beast' sheds light on gigantic dinosaur group | Reuters (reuters.com)
Mnyamawamtuka in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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