Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Giant dinosaur find in Castellon


    In what could be one of the most important dinosaur finds in Europe paleontologist have discovered the fossil of an enormous dinosaur that lived about 120 million years ago. Although the species of the find has not been identified it is of the sub order sauropod which included the largest animals ever to walk the Earth. Well-known sauropods include the Apatosaurus (formerly known as Brontosaurus), Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus. 'Sauropod' is derived from 'lizard foot' in Greek. The discovery was made in Morella which is about half way between Valencia and Barcelona. The scientists are currently working on uncovering the lower neck of the animal and the six vertebrae uncovered are about six metres long, one of the dinosaur's ribs would be about 2.5 metres long and indications point to the animal having a total length of some 20 metres.

    The surrounding area is rich in fossils and is close to Teruel, the home of Dinopolis; Spain's dinosaur theme park.

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