A titanosaur named after a character from ‘Don Quixote’ has been unearthed in Spain. This discovery promises further paleontological revelations.
Madrid – One might think that the greatest mysteries of prehistoric times have been solved by now – but discoveries still bring to light astonishing things that suddenly make history look different again. For example, just recently the largest known animal genome decodedwhich, according to the researchers, will help to understand how the ancestor of today’s land vertebrates managed to conquer the mainland. But there is still new stuff to discover in the world of dinosaurs.
New dinosaur species discovered in Spain
A previously unknown species of dinosaur has now been discovered in Spain, according to the journal Nature Communications Biology published. It is a so-called titanosaur that lived on the Iberian peninsula around 75 million years ago. The gigantic herbivore was around 20 meters long and weighed 15 tons. Based on the detailed descriptions, a computer reconstruction of the dinosaur was created, which shows photos. In comparison, humans seem frighteningly small: they would not even reach the dinosaur’s shoulders.
Find suggests: Dinosaurs migrated to Europe in the Cretaceous period
The previously unknown species could provide important information about the dinosaurs shortly before their extinction about 66 million years ago, say the Spanish and Portuguese researchers. They point out that the existence of this species in Spain suggests that Europe “was a melting pot of native and immigrant sauropods during the Late Cretaceous,” something that was not previously believed.
Francisco Ortega, one of the co-authors, explained: “Until now, it was thought that almost all European titanosaurs belonged to the native Lirainosaurus genus, which evolved in isolation in Europe from the end of the Cretaceous until its extinction.” However, the current find suggests that titanosaurs related to Asian and North American dinosaurs migrated to Europe at the end of the Cretaceous.
New dinosaur species discovered in Spain – “Knowing that there is at least one more specimen”
The fossils, which were given the name “Qunkasaura pintiquiniestra,” were found in the Lo Hueco archaeological site, about 200 kilometers southeast of Madrid. The name is a combination of the place where they were found, the province of Cuenca, and “Saura,” which alludes to both the Latin word for “lizard” and the artist Antonio Saura. “Pintiquiniestra” is the name of a giant queen from the book “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes. Ortega is said to have emphasized at the time of publication that it is one of the most complete sauropod skeletons ever found in Europe, as the dpa reported.
Since its discovery in 2007 during excavations for the Spanish high-speed railway, Lo Hueco has established itself as one of the most important Upper Cretaceous paleontological sites in Europe. More than 12,000 fossils have been unearthed there, including those of turtles and crocodiles. Ortega described the site as a textbook on European Upper Cretaceous sauropods. Paleontologists hope to use the remains to learn more about living conditions at that time. Ortega stressed that there is still much to discover, adding: “We know that there are remains of at least one more specimen in Cuenca.”
A sensational discovery was also made on the border between the USA and Canada in June. Researchers discovered a 78 million year old dinosaur species thereBut dinosaurs are not only important from an archaeological point of view – They are also used as labels at Edeka. (jh/dpa)
#dinosaur #cult #book
