Portugal's Oldest Dinosaur: NOVA-FCT-DCT-5562

Publication Info:

Transcript:

Rui Tiago Santos-Matos & Octávio Mateus. 2026. Theropod vertebra from the Late Triassic of Algarve, Portugal – evidence of the oldest Iberian dinosaur. Fossil Imprint 82 (1): 98-109; doi: 10.37520/fi.2026.006

Meet NOVA-FCT-DCT-5562! The new neotheropod fossil from Portugal! This distant relative of dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor, not to mention all birds is now the oldest dinosaur fossil ever described from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as its first Triassic dinosaur!

Episode 361

Notes:

There's another brand new dinosaur, and this one may not have a name, but it's already breaking records. For anyone who doesn't know, this is the Iberian Peninsula, and it has been in the news recently for dinosaurs, specifically Jurassic dinosaurs, which makes sense. They just discovered an actual Diplodocus in Spain not that long ago. But, one small vertebra is about to change what paleontologists know about the dinosaurs that lived there. This is Nova FCTD and you know what? I'm not going to remember it. Here you go. About an inch and a half long vertebra that was just discovered in Portugal. And while this inch and a half long vertebra may not look like much, it really is kind of a big deal because paleontologists have been able to identify not only as a dinosaur, but as a neotheropod, potentially a very close relative of Sarcosaurus, which would be cool on its own. But, but this isn't only the oldest dinosaur fossil ever found on the Iberian Peninsula. It is literally the first Triassic dinosaur fossil. So, even though paleontologists knew there were Triassic deposits, finally actually finding dinosaur remains in them is a big deal. So, like I said, this isn't really being connected to an individual species or even genus yet, but it's the age at 220 million years old that makes this vertebra so significant. As usual, if you want more information, here's the source.