SPANISH SCIENTISTS DISCOVER A MASSIVE LONG-NECKED DINOSAUR KNOWN AS THE TITAN

Fri 06 October 2023:

A gigantic dinosaur that had never been seen before lived in Spain 122 million years ago, according to new discoveries. Garumbatitan morellensis, the recently described species, was discovered during excavations at the Sant Antoni de la Vespa fossil site close to Morella.

In a recent study that was released on September 28 in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, researchers described their findings.

The sauropod fossil — dinosaurs with long necks, long tails, small heads, and four thick, pillar-like legs — was found during an excavation more than a decade ago, between 2005 and 2008.

A researcher sits next to some of the massive bones from G. morellensis. (Image credit: GBE-UNED)

Garumbatitan morellensis was a Titanosaur species, which is a subgroup of sauropods, and it was the only lineage to survive until the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck around 66 million years ago.

Researchers discovered the bones of not one, but three dinosaur during the excavation. Massive vertebrae, long leg bones, and two nearly entire sets of foot bones were discovered, which is an incredibly rare find for sauropods.

According to calculations, these huge fossils date back to the Lower Cretaceous period (145 to 66 million years ago).

Researchers excavating the fossils at the Sant Antoni de la Vespa site. (Image credit: GBE-UNED)

Titanosaurs

Garumbatitan morellensis, as per scientists, was a pretty average-sized Titanosaur, a subgroup used to classify the most massive sauropods.

According to Live Science, while titanosaurs were the heaviest sauropods, they were not the longest. That honor belongs to Supersaurus, an as-yet unidentified sauropod species that grew to be 128 feet (39 metres) long.

An artist’s impression of what the newly described species Garumbatitan morellensis may have looked like. (Image credit: Grup Guix)

According to Live Science, the peculiar bone form of Garumbatitan morellensis implies that the enormous dinosaur was relatively primitive. According to the paper, the discovery could help scientists better comprehend the evolution of these massive, long-necked dinosaurs.

These titans belonged to the Somphospondyli subgroup, whose fossils have been discovered on every modern-day continent. However, it is unknown where the Somphospondyli originated. The discovery of a long-necked dinosaur in Spain suggests that Europe may have been where they first roamed.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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