Scientists discover fossils of giant dinosaur which roamed Europe

13 April 2012

With a body the length of three double decker buses, scientists say this could be the biggest ever creature to roam around Europe.

Scientists have discovered fossils from a gigantic dinosaur which lived around 150 million years ago.

Based on the leg bone they have found, which is the same size as an adult human, they believe the creature could have been up to 121 feet long.

They also think the four-legged, long-necked creature probably weighed up to 48 tonnes - equivalent to seven adult male elephants.

Its discovery near Teruel in eastern Spain, confirms that Europe was once home to the enormous creatures called sauropods.

To date, most fossils from these dinosaurs have been found in the Americas and Africa.

Some sauropod remains have also been uncovered in the UK, Portugal, France and Spain, however this new creature is on a totally different scale, making it the largest of any found in Europe to date.

As well as the huge leg bone, the team, also found a claw from the first digit of its 'hoof' which is as large as a rugby ball.

Fragments of skull, other limb bones, teeth, vertebrae and ribs were also unearthed by Rafael Royo-Torres and colleagues, from the Fundacion Conjunto Paleontologico de Teruel-Dinopolis in Spain.

The team believe the creatures, which lived in the Late Jurassic period, ate plants, and probably lived in groups.

It has been named Turiasaurus riodevensis, from the word Turia, from which the placename Teruel derives, sauros from the Greek for lizard and riodevensis, from the the village of Riodeva where it was found.

The discovery of the new fossils was reported for the first time in the journal Science.

Researcher Dr Royo-Torres said: 'It may have been the most massive terrestrial animal in Europe and one of the largest in the world.'

The creature was comparable in size to the largest known dinosaurs, including Argentinosaurus and Brachiosaurus.

T. riodevensis represented a previously unknown group of European sauropods with more primitive limb and bone structures than those from other continents.

Dr Royo-Torres said a single tooth found in the Forest Marble Formation in Wiltshire may also have belonged to the same group, however it is not as large as the creature whose remains were found in Spain.

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