Dinosaur bones unearthed in Portugal: A 190‑million-year-old wonder
A dinosaur skeleton over 190 million years old was discovered in Portugal. It is one of the oldest finds of its kind in the country.
What do you need to know?
- Where was the skeleton discovered? The find occurred at Água de Madeiros Beach in the municipality of Marinha Grande, on Portugal's western coast.
- What challenges did scientists face? Extracting the fossil from marl, a sedimentary rock, was logistically challenging because the rock block weighed approximately 1.3 tonnes.
- What’s next for the discovery? Palaeontologists from the Lourinhã Museum are working on identifying the dinosaur species.
The over 190-million-year-old fossilised dinosaur skeleton—one of the oldest in Portugal—was discovered at Água de Madeiros Beach. Extracting the fossil was complicated because it was embedded in marl, a sedimentary rock composed of calcium.
They discovered a dinosaur skeleton from 190 million years ago
The excavation was conducted by a team of palaeontologists from the Lourinhã Museum in collaboration with municipal services. The work was carried out hastily to prevent damage to the fossil from ocean waves or low temperatures. João Brito from the town hall in Marinha Grande emphasised that transporting the 1.3-tonne rock block to the Lourinhã Museum posed a significant logistical challenge.
Currently, palaeontologists are trying to identify the dinosaur species.
Twenty-five years ago, a fossilised skeleton of another dinosaur, living about 195 million years ago, was discovered near Marinha Grande. It was the oldest Plesiosaurus specimen on the Iberian Peninsula, an order of extinct marine reptiles. This shows that the region is rich in prehistoric finds.
