A newly identified 20-meter-long dinosaur from Brazil has revealed an unexpected evolutionary link to Europe, offering new clues about how giant dinosaurs spread across ancient continents about 120 million years ago.
Scientists named the species Dasosaurus tocantinensis. Its fossils were uncovered during construction of a road-rail terminal in Davinópolis, in Brazil’s northeastern Maranhão state. Researchers described the species in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
The dinosaur is the largest known from Maranhão, according to Elver Luiz Mayer, a professor at the Federal University of the São Francisco Valley. It was about twice as long as Amazonsaurus maranhensis, a roughly 10-meter (33 ft.) sauropod previously found in the state. Sauropods included some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the Earth.
Dinosaur reveals ancient connection with Europe
Researchers found that the closest known relative of Dasosaurus lived in what is now Spain. They propose that the ancestors of the Brazilian dinosaur moved through North Africa before reaching South America between about 140 million and 120 million years ago.
Such movement was possible because the continents looked very different at the time. Africa and South America remained connected as parts of Gondwana before the southern supercontinent broke apart and the Atlantic Ocean expanded between them.
Other discoveries have provided striking evidence of that ancient connection. Researchers previously identified more than 260 matching dinosaur footprints on opposite sides of the Atlantic in Brazil and Cameroon.
Fossils first mistaken for prehistoric mammals
Archaeologists found the bones while monitoring construction work as part of environmental licensing requirements. Researchers initially thought they belonged to large prehistoric mammals. Mayer suspected otherwise. The fossils were buried about eight meters, or 26 feet, below the surface, in a geological formation known to contain much older material. “Given its depth of about eight meters, I realized that it was much older,” Mayer said.
Un paleontólogo prepara el fémur de Dasosaurus tocantinensis, nuevo dinosaurio de hace 120Ma descubierto en Maranhao, Brasil
📷Elver Mayer, 2026#Cretacico pic.twitter.com/TSxxXOPsMn— CRCpaleos (@CRCpaleos) May 21, 2026
A multidisciplinary team later determined that the remains belonged to a previously unknown dinosaur. The skeleton is relatively complete. It includes tail vertebrae, ribs, foot and limb bones, and a femur measuring 1.5 meters, or nearly 5 feet.
The find adds to growing evidence of prehistoric life in Brazil. Researchers have also discovered dinosaur footprints more than 100 million years old in the Amazon rainforest.
Bones reveal clues to dinosaur gigantism
Researchers examined the microscopic structure of the bones and found a mix of growth patterns seen in earlier sauropods and titanosaurs.
Titanosaurs were among the most successful giant dinosaur groups and spread widely across the prehistoric world. A recently identified titanosaur fossil from Antarctica provided further evidence of how widely these long-necked dinosaurs were distributed.
The analysis of Dasosaurus suggests some patterns of bone growth, and remodeling appeared earlier in sauropod evolution than scientists previously believed. The findings could help researchers better understand how some sauropods reached enormous sizes.
More fossils may remain underground
The discovery also highlights the complicated relationship between construction and paleontology. Development can damage fossil deposits, but excavation can expose rock that scientists might otherwise struggle to reach. Researchers are now seeking permission from the construction company to return to the site.
“We believe there are more fossils from this same specimen yet to be excavated at the site,” said Max Langer, a professor at the University of São Paulo who participated in the study. Additional remains could provide scientists with an even clearer picture of the giant dinosaur and its evolutionary journey across the ancient world.
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