BREAKING: Brazilian Long-Necked Giant Has European Cousins!

Paleontologists have unveiled Dasaurus tocantinensis, a colossal new тιтanosaur from Brazil whose 120-million-year-old fossils prove it is the closest known relative of the European “boss sauropod” Lirainosaurus — delivering the first direct fossil evidence of a trans-Atlantic land bridge between Europe, Africa, and South America.

Described March 12, 2026, in Nature Communications, the partial skeleton — including a 2.1-meter femur, distinctive dagger-like neural spines, and pneumatized vertebrae — was recovered from the Itapecuru Formation in Tocantins. At an estimated 25–30 meters long and 40–50 tonnes, D. tocantinensis matches Lirainosaurus astibiae from Spain in vertebral laminae and spine morphology so closely that the similarities cannot be explained by convergence alone.

Lead author Dr. Aline Ghilardi (Federal University of Tocantins) states: “These shared anatomical signatures point to a once-continuous corridor linking what are now three continents.” The Brazilian giant also shares traits with the African Paraliтιтan, reinforcing a brief Early Cretaceous connection via the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise before full oceanic separation.

Recovered from fluvial sandstones alongside hadrosaurs and ceratopsians, the fossils preserve rapid-growth bone histology typical of тιтanosaurs. CT scans reveal an advanced air-sac system supporting the enormous neck — hallmarks of the European lineage now traced to South America.

“This discovery rewrites the paleobiogeography of the southern continents,” adds co-author Dr. Philip Mannion (University College London). “South America was not isolated as early as textbooks claimed.”

As more Tocantins material is prepared, Dasaurus tocantinensis illuminates how the last giant long-necked herbivores roamed a shrinking supercontinent — before the Atlantic’s final rift separated their descendants forever. A true bridge across lost worlds.