Dinosaur genus

Mbiresaurus

Griffin et al. 2022

Mbiresaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 237–227.3 million years old, in Zimbabwe.

Confidence labels

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How sure are we?2 high7 medium0 lowHow we rate confidence

Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.

At a glance

Data as of 11 October 2026

237–227.3 Ma

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114366

The last non-bird dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago. That's as far from us as the end of this bar.

Named by: Griffin et al. 2022
high
high: PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Described in: C. T. Griffin, B. M. Wynd, D. Munyikwa, T. J. Broderick, M. Zondo, S. Tolan, M. C. Langer, S. J. Nesbitt, H. R. Taruvinga (2022). Africa’s oldest dinosaurs reveal early suppression of dinosaur distribution. Nature 609(7926): 313–319. Read it
high
high: PBDB gives this publication for the name; its author and year match the naming authority (Griffin et al. 2022), on which PBDB and Wikidata agree.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
Type species: Mbiresaurus raathi
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Lived: Carnian, 237–227.3 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Omnisaura calculation237–227.3 million years ago, from its dated fossil records
medium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 4 confirmed PBDB records.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Fossils found in: Zimbabwe
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
Rock formations: Pebbly Arkose
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (4 records).
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
Parent group: Sauropodomorpha
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
Named after: Mbire District
medium
medium: Only Wikidata gives this; nothing contradicts it.
Sources
Given by: Wikidata. How it was chosen: Wikidata leads.
Species named in its records: Mbiresaurus raathi
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
Known from: Bones
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).

Sources: Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0), Wikidata (CC0 1.0)Confidence levels and gaps are Omnisaura's own assessment.

Gaps are answers

What isn't known yet

Order: no source we use gives it yet.
Family: no source we use gives it yet.
Diet: no source we use gives it yet.
Way of life: no source we use gives it yet.
Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
Resting on one source: 4 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB); named after (Wikidata).

Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.

Where sources disagree

None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.

Did it meet…?

Did Mbiresaurus meet ?

No. Mbiresaurus had gone at least 143.7 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record, a longer gap than the 66 million years between Tyrannosaurus and today.

Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.

Connections

Genera linked to Mbiresaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.

Same parent group: Sauropodomorpha 8

Other genera in Sauropodomorpha with a full profile.

Ahvaytum Arcusaurus Asylosaurus Buriolestes Efraasia Eoraptor Eosauropus Thecodontosaurus

Found in Zimbabwe 1

Other genera found in Zimbabwe, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.

Megapnosaurus

Credits

Where this page comes from

Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines