Portuguese paleontologists have discovered several specimens of the large Ankiroprolexian Iguanodon (late Jurassic epoch) that lived 150 million years ago.
A massive reconstruction of the Iguanodon dinosaur of Ankiropolo Lexia interacting with a late Jurassic boy in the late European period. Image credit: Vitor Carvalho.
New dinosaur fossils have been found in various regions of the Lusitania Basin in western Portugal.
One of the specimens labeled shn.jjs.015 is Ankiroporo Lexia, a mysterious group of herbivores Iguanodontian dinosaur. It lived from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
“That was a surprise,” said Dr. Filippo Maria Rotetri, a Geobiotech paleontologist, at the University of Nova de Lisboa and the Museum’s Da Rourinha.
“We believed that the diversity of this dinosaur group was already well documented in the late Jurassic of Portugal, but this discovery shows that there is still much to learn and that exciting discoveries could continue to emerge in the near future.”
“Unfortunately, due to the limited amount of recovered materials, it is not yet possible to assign a formal scientific name to this species.”
“It was heavyweight,” added Dissancia, professor Fernando Escaso, a paleontologist at Exaicon University.
“When we estimated its size and weight, we found that this new dinosaur is much bulkier than other Iguanodon species. Draconyx or eousdryosaurus, it is likely that they share ecosystems.”
Paleontologists also excavated a series of small, isolated bones in the same Lucitane basin.
These fossils may represent the same species of Ankiroprolexia Iguanodon dinosaur, just like shn.jjs.015.
“The explanation of shn.jjs.015 adds new members of Ankiroporolexia to the inadequately known Jurassic Iguanodonn fauna of Iberian land, and at least at the bottom of the Titonian (149-143 million years ago), three medium-sized European countries (143 million years ago), from Europe, three medium-sized ankiropound Europe. The researchers said.
Furthermore, it supports the interpretation of Iguanodon diversification early discovered by Europe in the late Jurassic, and demonstrates the fundamental role of Iberian land in achieving a better understanding of biogeographic patterns. ”
Survey results It will be displayed in Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
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Filippo Maria Rotatori et al. 2025. Evidence of a large Ankiropolar Lexian dinosaur (Ornithischia: Iguanodontia) in the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 23(1): 2470789; doi: 10.1080/14772019.2025.2470789
Source: www.sci.news
