Brazil unearths a monster from the past: Meet Dasosaurus tocantinensis, a 20-meter-long sauropod that just rewrote the dinosaur migration map.
Paleontologists in northeastern Brazil have named this new species of somphospondylan sauropod from partial skeletons pulled from the Early Cretaceous Itapecuru Formation (around 120 million years old). Estimated at about 66 feet long—roughly two school buses end-to-end—it ranks among the largest dinosaurs ever found in the country.
What makes it special? Its bones show striking similarities to Garumbatitan morellensis from Spain’s Barremian period, including unique ridges and grooves on the tail vertebrae and a prominent bulge on the femur. This close kinship points to ancient land connections that let these giants trek between South America, Africa, and Europe long after Pangaea started splitting—challenging old ideas about how fast those bridges vanished.
The find, formally described by Elver L. Mayer and team in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology (February 2026), comes from the Grajaú Basin region tied to the Tocantins area—hence the name “forest lizard from Tocantins.”
One of Brazil’s most complete large sauropod specimens yet, it delivers fresh proof that the Early Cretaceous world still had surprising highways for colossal travelers.