An international research team is uncovering the remains of what could be the largest dinosaur ever found in Europe. It was after a Portuguese man started noticing fossilized bones in his backyard years ago. The fossilized skeleton of a sauropod was discovered in Pombal, Portugal, in 2017. It was when the man began work on his property. According to the University of Lisbon, the brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur would have stood 39 feet tall and been about 82 feet long.
The research team said that the dinosaur most likely died in the position in which its remains were found
“It is not usual to find all the ribs of an animal like dinosaur, let alone in this position, maintaining their original anatomical position,” Elisabete Malafaia, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lisbon, said this week. “This mode of preservation is relatively uncommon in the fossil record of dinosaurs, in particular sauropods, from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic.”
Sauropods, iconic herbivorous dinosaurs known for their long necks and tails, lived from 160 to 100 million years ago. The recovered skeleton fragments will be cleaned and stabilized in a lab, documented, and studied before going on display in a museum, Malafaia informed.
Based on the preservation and positioning of the bones removed from the site, researchers suspect that there could be more fossils buried in the backyard in Pombal. Moreover, they plan to continue the excavation work next year.
