New fossil discovery suggests dinosaurs traveled across oceans

New fossil discovery suggests dinosaurs traveled across oceans

Duckbill dinosaurs evolved in North America, spreading to South America, Asia, Europe, and finally Africa.

(CNN)Fossils of a duckbill dinosaur have been discovered in Africa, leading experts to believe the species once traveled hundreds of kilometers across oceans to reach the continent.

The new dinosaur, Ajnabia odysseus, a member of the plant-eating duckbill dinosaur family, was discovered in rocks in a mine in Morocco, dating back some 66 million years to the end of the Cretaceous period.
Though some duckbill dinosaurs could reach up to 15 meters (49 feet) long, experts say that Ajnabia was comparatively tiny, measuring the size of a pony at three meters (10 feet).
Experts were puzzled at how the dinosaur ended up in Africa, which was an island continent and completely isolated by deep sea during the Late Cretaceous.