| Mbiresaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic | |
|---|---|
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| Reconstruction of Mbiresaurus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Family: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Genus: | †Mbiresaurus Griffin, 2022 |
| Species: | †M. raathi |
| Type species | |
| † Mbiresaurus raathi , 2022 | |
Mbiresaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph that lived in the Pebbly Arkose formation approximately 230 million years ago during the Carnian age of the Late Triassic. The type and only species is named M. raathi. It is currently thought to have been one of the oldest definitive dinosaurs of Africa, and is known from a single nearly complete skeleton.
In their phylogenetic analyses, Griffin recovered Mbiresaurus as one of the most basal sauropodomorphs, only less basal than Buriolestes, Eoraptor, Guaibasaurus and their close relatives.