A new species of plant-eating dinosaur, named Cariocecus bocagei, has been discovered in Portugal, according to the Institute of Natural Sciences.
The dinosaur, an iguanodon from the Early Cretaceous period, was identified through a collaboration between the Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and its Portuguese counterpart.
Fossils in excellent condition were found in the Papo Seco Formation in western Portugal. Although discovered in 2016, they were only later transported to a laboratory for detailed analysis.
Chief researcher Filippo Bertozzo explained that the state of preservation became evident after removing the surrounding sandstone. Researchers found a unique feature: the fusion of the upper jaw and cheekbone, unobserved in other iguanodons. This confirmed it as a new species, he stated.
The skull of the fossil. Credit: Filippo Bertozzo
Using micro-CT scans, scientists examined the nerves and inner ear structures within the skull. The scans revealed brain and nerve impressions as well as parts of the inner ear, offering insights into how the dinosaur lived and oriented itself.
This species lived approximately 125 million years ago, during a time when plant-eating dinosaurs with robust bodies and complex teeth dominated Europe.
Similar species were already known in Belgium, Spain, Britain, and France, but this is the first formally identified species from Portugal, Bertozzo noted.
The name Cariocecus bocagei honours both the war god worshipped in the Iberian Peninsula and 19th-century zoologist José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage.
