A huge dinosaur skeleton has been discovered in the backyard of a man in Pombal, Portugal, and it may be the largest ever found in Europe, according to Publish a press release Wednesday.
The property owner noticed fossilized bone fragments in his backyard during construction in 2017 and contacted a research team that launched an initial excavation campaign that same year, according to the press release.
Earlier this month, paleontologists from Spain and Portugal worked at the site for more than a week and believe they have discovered the remains of the largest sauropod dinosaur ever found on the continent, according to the statement. Sauropods are four-legged plant-eating dinosaurs with long necks and tails. This dinosaur was 39 feet long and 82 feet long.
Image courtesy of Instituto Dom Luiz (Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon) (Portugal).
“It is not unusual to find all the ribs of an animal like this, much less so in this position, while maintaining their original anatomical position,” said Elizabeth Malavia, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lisbon, in a Jurassic statement.
The press release stated that the most important skeletal elements were collected from the site, which includes the vertebrae and ribs of a sauropod Brachiosaurus, or Brachiosaurus. Dinosaur species roamed the Earth from 160 to 100 million years ago.
Due to the dinosaur’s preservation characteristics, researchers believe that other parts of its skeleton will also be found.
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