Turiasaurus

Turiasaurus (meaning "Turia lizard"; Turia is the Latin name of Teruel) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary. The fossils were known informally as "Riodevasaurus", a nomen nudum. Turiasaurus is believed to be the largest dinosaur ever found in Europe, and is among the largest dinosaurs known (if you go to the Dinosaur size page, it is the second-longest dinosaur known so far), at 36-39 metres in length and with a weight of 40 to 48 tonnes, the combined weight of six or seven adult male elephants. More recent estimates suggest a length closer to 30 metres, or about 100 ft in length, but a comperable mass of 50 tonnes. The length of its skull is 70 centimetres, which is not too large. According to the paleontologist Luis Alcalá, this is because a larger head may have caused Turiasaurus to break its neck.

Fragmentary remains of this animal, including an articulated left forelimb (holotype), skull fragments, teeth, vertebrae and ribs, have been found in terrestrial deposits of the Villar del Arzobispo Formation of Riodeva (Teruel Province, Eastern Spain), and a forelimb from Portugal. The type species, Turiasaurus riodevensis, was formally described by Royo-Torres, Cobos & Alcala, in 2006. Recently, excavations have been made east of Madrid and what has been uncovered so far is the most complete fossil of such creatures in the whole world.