Name:
Lourinhanosaurus (Greek for "Lourinha lizard"); pronounced lore-in-HAHN-oh-SORE-us
Habitat:
Woodlands of western Europe
Historical Period:
Late Jurassic (150 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 20 feet long and 1-2 tons
Diet:
Meat
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Medium size; long arms
About Lourinhanosaurus:
One of the few large theropods to be discovered in Portugal, Lourinhanosaurus (named after that country's Lourinha Formation) has proven difficult to classify: paleontologists can't decide if it was most closely related to Allosaurus, Sinraptor or the equally obscure Megalosaurus. This late Jurassic predator is noteworthy for two reasons: first, scientists have identified gastroliths among its fossilized stomach contents, which Lourinhanosaurus clearly swallowed on purpose rather than ingesting by accident when eating herbivorous dinosaurs. And second, a clutch of about 100 Lourinhanosaurus eggs, some containing fossilized embryos, have been found close to the original excavation site.
