Dec 21, 2006, 19:00 GMT
Madrid - Spanish scientists have discovered remains of the biggest dinosaur known in Europe so far, which weighed as much as eight elephants and would not have fitted onto a basketball court.
The research results are published in the latest issue of the magazine Science.
The dinosaur, whose fossils were found in Riodeva in eastern Teruel province, has been named Turiasaurus riodevensis.
The species, which lived in the Late Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, measured 30 metres and weighed between 40 and 48 tons.
Its foreleg bone was as large as an adult human, and its claw the size of an American football. Researchers also found a skull, other bones and teeth.
Such large dinosaurs have previously been found mainly in the Americas and Africa. The Turiasaurus had more primitive limb and bone structures than those of species discovered on other continents.
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