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Dinosaurs: The titan from Spain

11.10.2023

Translation: machine translated

Europe has gained a giant - at least a fossilised one. Excavations in Spain have unearthed the remains of a giant dinosaur from the Cretaceous period.

There are still not enough bones to determine the exact size of Garumbatitan morellensis. However, the dimensions of the material found so far in the Sant Antoni de la Vespa deposit in Spain indicate that the dinosaur was probably a giant. The vertebra alone has a diameter of one metre, while the discovered femur is two metres long, report Pedro Mocho from the University of Lisbon and his team in the "Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society".

In addition, the team excavated the remains of two complete feet, which is unusual, according to the researchers, who were also pleased to find fossilised ribs, parts of a hip and the hind limbs. The 122 million-year-old bones date back to the Cretaceous period and belong to the titanosaur group, which produced some of the largest animal species ever to have existed on Earth. In total, they are probably divided into four individuals of different sizes. However, due to various common characteristics, they probably all belong to the same species, called Garumbatitan morellensis with reference to regional place names.

In order to identify a new dinosaur species, the remains of the head are usually required. In the case of Garumbatitan, the thigh and foot bones are shaped differently to all comparable known remains. For example, they have clearly pronounced lateral curvatures on the femur.

Further bone finds, which have not yet been examined in detail, also indicate that another large sauropod may have existed here at the same time. During the Cretaceous, the area must therefore have fed various giant dinosaurs. Both also show similarities with related titanosaurs from present-day North America, Africa and Asia. The complex distribution history of these giants is therefore another piece of the puzzle richer.

The fossil deposit of Sant Antoni de la Vespa in the Valencia region is one of the most important in Europe. Some of the first fossilised dinosaur bones in Spain were discovered here. Even larger species come mainly from Patagonia: Patagotitan mayorum, for example, is considered the colossus among land animals: With a weight of almost 70 tonnes and a length of almost 35 metres from nose to tail tip, it was lighter than the blue whale, but also somewhat larger. Even more gigantic representatives are possible: In 2021, palaeontologists reported finds in which tail vertebrae and parts of the hip indicated that the animals could have been another ten to twenty per cent larger than Patagotitan mayorum.

Spectrum of science

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Cover image: GBE-UNED

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