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 30 August 2008 15:50 BST

Giant Spanish dinosaur shocks palaeontologists

Friday, 22 Dec 2006 15:12
An artist's impression of Turiasaurus riodevensis
The fossilised remains of one of the largest dinosaurs ever discovered have been unearthed in Spain.

But the find has surprised palaeontologists, with discoveries of giant sauropods, long-knecked herbivores, usually limited to the Americas and Africa.

Turiasaurus riodevensis roamed the Iberian peninsula in the late Jurassic period about 150 million years ago and would have been up to 37m in length when fully grown and weighed as much as 48 tonnes.

The dinosaur's name comes from the region and village where its remains were discovered.

Scientists have put together a detailed picture of the sauropod after analysing the dinosaur's skull, scapula, femur, tibia and fibular bones, as well as its teeth.

Brooks Hanson, Science's deputy editor of physical sciences at US journal Science, where news of the dinosaur's find has been published, said: "The humerus – the long bone in the foreleg that runs from the shoulder to the elbow – was as large as [a human] adult."

Mr Hanson explained that Turiasaurus riodevensis was comparable in size to recognised giants Argentinosaurus and Brachiosaurus.End of story


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