New dinosaur fossil coming soon to Maropeng

The premaxilla

Visitors to Maropeng have a wonderful, world-first opportunity to see the fossil of a new species of dinosaur, known as “Earth Claw”.

It was only on 11 November 2009 that the University of the Witwatersrand announced the discovery of this new species of dinosaur.

From 1 December 2009 until 31 January 2010 the creature’s femur and foot bone will go on display at the Maropeng exhibition. These bones in particular tell us a lot about the animal.

The new fossil is estimated to be 195-million years old. Scientists are excited about it because the anatomy of this 7 m (23 ft) vegetarian creature, which mostly walked on two feet but also dropped onto all fours, sheds light on the development of the huge sauropods.

The dinosaur’s genus name, Aardonyx, translates as “Earth Claw”, referring to the big claws that were the first parts of the fossil to be unearthed five years ago. The species name, celestae, acknowledges the work of Celeste Yates, who prepared much of the fossil.

The fossil was discovered in the northern Free State and is currently being housed at the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research (BPI), at Wits University in Johannesburg.

Maropeng plans to extend its evolution display, Digging for an understanding, due to its popularity. However, the center case of the Original Fossil Display Area will be dedicated to exhibiting these significant pieces of the find.

Not all the pieces of the dinosaur fossil will be displayed, purely because some of them are still too fragile to be transported.

Like the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa’s Free State and Karoo areas are rich in fossils which tell us about the development of life on Earth.

Dr Adam Yates

According to BPI palaeontologist Dr Adam Yates, the primary investigator in the Aardonyx celestae work, “If you want to know about dinosaurs you must come to South Africa.”

He says the fossil will also go on display next year at the Transvaal Museum in Tshwane.

“We have a very substantial portion of the fossil, though not all of it,” says Yates. This includes the neck, skull, jaws, hind legs, both feet and part of the hand. “We are just missing a few bones, but from what we have we can fill in the gaps easily.”

The discovery is another reminder that it’s important to understand and take care of our natural heritage. We don’t know what still lies waiting for us to find.