posted on Mar, 5 2014 @ 08:20 PM
A new dinosaur species discovered in Portugal dominated the food chain 150 million years ago - the Tyrannosaurus Rex of its time, researchers say.
The new species is the largest land predator discovered in Europe and one of the largest worldwide of the Jurassic era
Fossilised remains of what scientists believe was the largest land dinosaur ever to have roamed Europe have been found in Portugal.
The dinosaur, a new species named Torvosaurus gurneyi, was up to 10m (33ft) long and weighed between four and five tonnes. Its head measured 1.15m
from front to back and was filled with blade-shaped teeth up to 10cm (4in) long, suggesting it may have been near the top of the food chain and eaten
other large dinosaurs.
Scientists found the bones north of Portugal's capital, Lisbon, and originally thought they belonged to a species from North America, Torvosaurus
Similar to the T. Rex, the new dino was a bipedal carnivore with powerful jaws lined with blade-shaped teeth four inches long with a skull about 4 ft.
long. Scientists estimate Torvosaurus gurneyi grew up to 33 feet long and weighed some 4 or 5 tons, making it a fierce predator
The fossils found in Portugal closely resemble those of a North American dinosaur - the Torvosaurus tanneri - and indeed at first the scientists
thought the two specimens must be from the same species.
But upon closer analysis of the bones, the researchers determined the species must have evolved separately from the two sides of the proto-Atlantic
Ocean over a few million years
Scientists find dinosaur that was scourge of Jurassic
Its genus name, Torvosaurus, means "savage lizard." Its species name, gurneyi, honors James Gurney, the author and illustrator of the popular
"Dinotopia" book series.
Torvosaurus gurneyi was not the only meat-eating dinosaur in its neighborhood.
For example, there was a European species of the well-known North American Jurassic predator Allosaurus, but the Torvosaurus found in Portugal was
larger. Torvosaurus gurneyi not only is the largest known meat-eating dinosaur from Europe, but is the biggest land predator of any kind ever found
on the continent, they added.
edit on 5-3-2014 by snarky412 because: add link