The skeleton of an 82ft long dinosaur has been discovered in a man’s backyard in central Portugal.
Paleontologists from Spain and Portugal working at the site in the city of Pombal believe this may be the remains of the largest sauropod dinosaur found in Europe.
Sauropods are herbivorous tetrapods, characterized by a long neck and tail.
Excavation began when the landowner first noticed bone fragments on his property in 2017 during construction.
Researchers say in recent weeks they have unearthed the vertebrae and ribs of a likely Brachiosaurid sauropod, aka Brachiosaurus, about 39ft (12m) tall and about 82ft long. 25m).
The Brachiosauridae group includes large species that lived from the Upper Jurassic to the Lower Cretaceous, about 160 to 100 million years ago.
Elisabeth Malafaia, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lisbon, said: “Normally one doesn’t find all the ribs of an animal like this, let alone this location, still in place. their original anatomy”.
“This mode of conservation is relatively uncommon in the fossil record of dinosaurs, especially sauropods, from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal.”
