A dinosaur that shouldn't have been there
When paleontologists described a new dinosaur from Morocco in the journal Cretaceous Research in 2020, it caused real astonishment in the scientific community. Not because of its size – Ajnabia odysseus was a relatively small dinosaur, about three to four meters long. But because of its identity: it was a hadrosaur – a so-called duck-billed dinosaur. And hadrosaurs simply had no business in Africa.
The question raised by its discovery was as astonishing as the answer: How did this dinosaur cross an open ocean to North Africa? Science has found an answer – and it almost sounds like an adventure novel.
What is a Hadrosaur?
Hadrosaurs – popularly known as "duck-billed dinosaurs" – were one of the most successful dinosaur groups of the Late Cretaceous period. Their namesake broad, flat beak was ideal for grazing on vegetation. Many species had conspicuous bony crests on their skulls, presumably used for communication and sexual selection.
The group originated in North America and spread from there to Eurasia. They populated North America, Europe, and Asia with enormous species diversity – but South America and Africa were long considered hadrosaur-free zones. Africa was an island in the late Mesozoic, separated from the rest of the world by straits. No land bridge, no possibility of migration – or so it was thought.
Ajnabia: The discovery that changed everything
The fossils of Ajnabia were discovered in the Ouëd Zem Formation in central Morocco, in layers dating to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, approx. 66–72 million years old). The preserved material included parts of the skull, vertebrae, and limb bones – enough for a definitive identification.
The description by Nicholas Longrich and colleagues at the University of Bath was unambiguous: Ajnabia odysseus was a lambeosaurine – a subgroup of hadrosaurs known for their often magnificent bony crests. Its closest relatives lived in Europe. Not in Africa. Not in South America. In Europe.
This meant that Ajnabia – or its ancestors – had crossed the Atlantic at some point in the Late Cretaceous. From Europe to Africa. Across open water.
The impossible journey: Island hopping across the Atlantic
In the late Maastrichtian, approximately 66–72 million years ago, the Earth's geography was fundamentally different from today. The Atlantic already existed, but it was narrower. Between Europe and Africa lay not only open water but also a chain of islands and shallows – similar to a natural stepping stone pattern.
Longrich and his team propose "island hopping" as an explanatory model: dinosaurs could have been transported on driftwood or natural rafts of vegetation over short distances between islands – passively, by ocean currents, without active navigation. This phenomenon is known from modern zoology: iguanas, rodents, and even monkeys have overcome ocean barriers in this way.
For dinosaurs, such a journey was extremely improbable – but not impossible. And the geological evidence for a chain of islands between Late Cretaceous Europe and Africa makes the scenario scientifically plausible.
The name: A program
The species name odysseus is no coincidence. The scientists named the dinosaur after the Homeric hero Odysseus – the great navigator of Greek mythology who wandered the Mediterranean for years before returning home. An allusion that could hardly be more fitting: Ajnabia too was a traveler who crossed the sea – thereby redefining the boundaries of chance and possibility.
The genus name Ajnabia comes from Arabic and means "the stranger" or "the foreigner" – a reference to its exotic origin in an ecosystem where it didn't really belong.
Ajnabia in context: Morocco's Cretaceous ecosystem
Ajnabia lived at the end of the Cretaceous period – a time just a few million years before the great mass extinction 66 million years ago. Morocco was not a mountainous country then, but a flat coastal region on the edge of the Tethys Sea – warm, richly vegetated, crisscrossed by rivers.
In this habitat, Ajnabia was one of the smaller inhabitants. Alongside it, Morocco's Late Cretaceous fauna included large theropods, early mammals, and a variety of marine reptiles in the surrounding waters. As a herbivore, Ajnabia was likely specialized in the rich vegetation of the coastal lowlands – its broad beak ideal for efficiently grazing ground vegetation.
What Ajnabia teaches us about the dinosaur world
The discovery of Ajnabia has several scientific consequences. First, it shows that Africa was not as isolated at the end of the Cretaceous as long assumed – at least not for occasional, accidental crossings. Second, it proves that hadrosaurs had an even greater geographical distribution than previously known. And third, it opens up new questions: How many other animal groups have crossed oceans in a similar way without us knowing about it yet?
Paleontology is not a closed science. Every new discovery can redraw the map of prehistory – just as Ajnabia has done.
Discover authentic fossils from Morocco in our collection – the country that continues to amaze scientists and collectors alike. Each piece a window into a world stranger and more fascinating than we can imagine.
0 comments