Zby

Zby is known from only one partial skeleton, which includes a tooth, a neck bone fragment, a tail bone, and most of the right shoulder and arm.1

Zby's arm bone (humerus) had a special ridge on the back that is not seen in other sauropods. This ridge helps scientists tell Zby apart from its relatives.1

Zby was a turiasaur, a group of sauropods that lived only in Europe during the Late Jurassic. Its closest relative is Turiasaurus from Spain.1

The fossils of Zby were discovered in 1996 by paleontologist Octávio Mateus. They were found in a scenic bay overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, which is why the species is named atlanticus.1

Zby lived about 152 to 149 million years ago, during the Kimmeridgian age of the Late Jurassic.5

All adult sauropods found in the Late Jurassic of Portugal, including Zby, were very large. Scientists think smaller plant-eaters like the long-necked stegosaur Miragaia might have eaten the low plants instead.1