Dinosaur from Portugal: Giant Sauropod Skeleton Found in Man's Garden

'Europe's largest sauropod' unearthed in Portugal: Fossilized skeleton of 82-foot-long dinosaur that lived 160 million years ago found in man's backyardPaleontologists have discovered the Fossilized skeleton of an 82ft long dinosaur in his garden Could be the largest sauropod ever found in Europe, and 160 million years oldSauropods were four-legged herbivores with a long neck and tail

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Posted: 10:17 BST, 26 Aug 2022 | Updated: 16:32 BST, 26 Aug 2022

When tending to the garden, most people would not expect to encounter something bigger than an overgrown weed.< /p>

However, a man in Portugal got a little more than he bargained for while digging on his property, as he found a huge set of fossilized dinosaur bones.

After studying the skeleton, scientists discovered that it belonged to an 82-foot (25-meter) brachiosaurus that lived 160 to 100 million years ago.

It could be the largest dinosaur sauropod - a subgroup characterized by its four legs, long neck and tail, and herbivorous diet - never found in Europe.

< p class="mol-para-with-font">Elisabete Malafaia, researcher at the University of Lisbon, said: "It is not usual to find all the c bones of an animal like this, let alone in this position, retaining their original anatomical position.

'This mode of preservation is relatively rare in the fossil record of dinosaurs, especially sauropods, from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic.'