Dinosaur Skeleton Discovered By Portuguese Man In Backyard
Update: 2022-08-31 14:34 IST
The research carried out at the Monte Agudo paleontological site underlines the importance of the fossil record of vertebrate in the Pombal region (Portugal). (Photo/weather)
A man from Portugal's Pombal experienced an unheard-of turn of events when, in 2017, he was doing some backyard building work and came across fossilised bones that appeared to be those of a huge dinosaur. The man called palaeontologists from the University of Lisbon right away after being startled, and the group then started the excavation procedure.
Five years after the remains were found, scientists now think they belonged to a 39-foot-tall brachiosaurid sauropod, a long-necked, herbivorous quadrupedal dinosaur that ruled the planet during the Late Jurassic Period between 160 and 100 million years ago.
Other species in this group include the North American Brachiosaurus altithorax, the African Giraffatitan brancai, and the Portuguese Lusotitan atalaiensis.The size of this dinosaur, estimated from the remains to be about 12 metres tall and 25 metres long, making it the biggest dinosaur yet discovered in Europe.
Elisabete Malafaia, postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon explained that it is uncommon to see an animal's entire set of ribs in this condition, let alone with all of them in their original anatomical positions. In the fossil record of dinosaurs, especially sauropods, from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic, this method of preservation is rather uncommon.
Some of the uncovered remains still need to undergo laboratory treatment to remove the sediments. Once finished, additional research will be done in the museum to ensure accurate identification and display.
Researchers from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Complutense University of Madrid, the Evolutionary Biology Group at UNED-Madrid, and the Instituto Dom Luiz, University of Lisbon are working on this topic. Its discoveries will enhance knowledge of the lineage of Late Jurassic dinosaurs in Portugal and provide important new insights into the skeletal morphology of sauropods.