Rabat – Paleontologists from UK and Morocco have discovered a new species of dinosaur ′Adratiklit boulahfa′ in Morocco, more likely to be about 168 million years old.
The remains that were uncovered in the Middle Atlas mountains are not only the oldest definite stegosaur ever found, but it is also the first stegosaur to be found in North Africa, though similar ones have been found before in in North America, Asia, and Europe.
The newly found species has been named Adratiklit boulahfa from the Amazigh words for mountain (Adrar) and lizard (tiklit). Boulahfa, refers to where the specimen was found in Morocco’s Middle Atlas near Fes.
The study was led by Dr Susannah Maidment, a dinosaur expert at National History Museum. “The discovery of A. boulahfa is particularly exciting as we have dated it to the Middle Jurassic,” said Dr. Maidment.
The Stegosaurus was a large, heavily built dinosaur that roamed the Late Jurassic on four legs. It had a posture different than most dinosaurs with its rounded back, and low head position. It had large bony plates along its spine, extending from the head to the tail.
[ads2]
