Scientists have revealed the existence of a colossal, never-before-seen sauropod dinosaur that once roamed the ancient landscapes of what is now Spain approximately 122 million years ago.
Dubbed "Garumbatitan morellensis," the recently-identified species roamed the Iberian Peninsula during the early Cretaceous period. The remains were unearthed during excavations at the Sant Antoni de la Vespa fossil site near Morella between 2005 and 2008.
The remarkable discovery included fossils of at least three specimen, featuring massive vertebrae, lengthy leg bones, and two nearly complete sets of foot bones - a rarity among sauropods.
"One of the individuals we found stands out for its large size, with vertebrae more than one meter wide, and a femur that could reach two meters in length. We found two almost complete and articulated feet in this deposit, which is particularly rare in the geological record," said Pedro Mocho, a leader of the study and paleontologist of Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal).
The study is redefining our understanding of these ancient behemoths. Sauropods, characterized by their elongated necks and tails, were herbivorous dinosaurs that reached colossal sizes.
G. morellensis belongs to a subgroup of sauropods known as titanosaurs, which were the largest and only sauropod lineage to survive until the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago.
While the exact size of G. morellensis remains uncertain, researchers are awestruck by the size of its bones. Mocho described one specimen with vertebrae over one meter wide and a femur that could reach two meters in length. These dimensions suggest that G. morellensis was likely of average size for titanosaurs, which often measured as large as a basketball court.
One remarkable aspect of G. morellensis is its primitive nature, evident in the shape of its leg and foot bones, which suggest it belonged to the sub-group Somphospondyli that includes titanosaurs and other elongated sauropods like Brachiosaurus. The revelation may offer fresh insights into the origins of Somphospondylans, which are found on every modern-day continent.
Moreover, the discovery hints that Europe might have been their ancient homeland, although further evidence is required to substantiate this hypothesis. Scientists believe sites such as Sant Antoni de la Vespa in Spain and other locations across the Iberian Peninsula hold the potential to unravel more secrets of sauropod evolution.
The study was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.