Huge Fossil Find

MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE SOURCE; GBE-UNED/IDL

Scientists discovered a fossil of a dinosaur called a sauropod. Here’s how the dino may have looked (left). Researchers sit with the giant dinosaur’s 10-foot-long rib cage (right).

JIM MCMAHON/MAPMAN ® (

Scientists recently found a huge dinosaur fossil in Europe. In fact, it may be the largest ever discovered on the continent! A man in Pombal, Portugal, first spotted the skeleton in 2017 while digging in his garden. Last summer, paleontologists finally uncovered the fossil, or preserved remains, of the dino’s rib cage!

Millions of years ago, when a dinosaur died, sometimes it would be quickly buried by sediments like sand and silt. Over time, minerals seeped into its bones, turning them into fossils. Most dinosaurs’ bodies decayed before this happened. That’s why fossils are so rare.

In Portugal, researchers used the rib cage to estimate the size of the dinosaur. They think the dino is a type of sauropod—a giant plant eater with a long neck—that was 13 meters (43 feet) tall and 25 meters (82 feet) long! The team will keep digging at the site to uncover more of the dino’s bones.

GBE-UNED/IDL

Scientists carefully chiseled away dirt to uncover the fossil without damaging it.

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