Man Finds Skeleton In His Backyard – Turns Out It's The Largest Dinosaur Ever Found in Europe (Video & Pictures)
Startled, the man immediately contacted palaeontologists from the University of Lisbon, after which the team began the excavation process. Now, about five years since the discovery, researchers believe that the remains belonged to a 39-foot-tall brachiosaurid sauropod — a herbivorous, long-necked quadrupedal dinosaur that dominated the world during the Late Jurassic Period about 160 to 100 million years ago. Some other species that belong to this group include Brachiosaurus altithorax from North America, Giraffatitan brancai from Africa, and the Lusotitan atalaiensis from Portugal's western region.