A large and unique discovery in Spain reveals how sauropods may have dispersed across Asia and Europe before dinosaurs went extinct.
The well-preserved bones of the newly named Qunkasaura have improved paleontologists’ knowledge of dinosaurs in Europe during the Late Cretaceous.
“Qunkasaura was one of the most outstanding specimens in our quarry,” says Pedro Mocho, a paleontologist at the University of Lisbon in Portugal.
(Credit: GBE-UNED) General view of the Lo Hueco site during the excavation of Qunkasaura in 2007
GBE-UNED
Qunkasaura was first discovered by accident, like many dinosaur bones. In 2007, workers were excavating near the Spanish city of Cuenca while building a railway for a high-speed train line connecting Valencia and Madrid. The area around Cuenca was never considered important for paleontology, Mocho says, but workers dug deep enough that they revealed a layer containing fossilized bones.
Paleontologists discovered more than 10,000 bones, including those of dinosaurs, ...
